89’ feature documentary
This internationally award-winning film is an inspirational story about Tim Stead, the innovative wood sculptor, furniture designer and environmentalist, and his widow Maggy’s rollercoaster journey as she battles to secure the future of their unique home, The Steading. It is a Grade A-listed work of art, sculpted from wood by Tim in the Scottish Borders. Can Maggy and her friends protect Tim’s legacy to inspire future generations to create and work with wood? Or will it be lost forever? “Just a big bonfire,” as Maggy says in a moment of despair.
In parallel, the film weaves the remarkable stories of the passionate people who worked with Tim to explore how he evolved as a profound but accessible artist and his role in the creation of some of Scotland’s most popular public art, like the interior of Café Gandolfi in Glasgow and the Millennium Clock at the National Museum of Scotland. The film traces how Tim’s belief to put back in more than he took out of the environment led to pioneering the creation of the first community woodland in Britain which kickstarted the community land ownership movement in Scotland and internationally.
The action is punctuated by a selection of Tim’s eloquent poems.
It is a story about the bonds of love and grief, loyalty and friendship, collaboration and community alongside our relationship with trees, and Nature as a catalyst for our creativity and well-being in the face of climate change.
“If we didn’t have trees, our planet would be dead,” reflects Giles Sutherland.
Made by Dumfries based film-maker Beatrix A. Wood of TrixPixMedia, the film has been in 16 international film festivals, won 5 awards and been nominated for 4 more.
“My husband was a green woodworker from Cornwall,” says Beatrix. “When he visited the Steading and saw Tim’s work and met Maggy, it was like a lightning bolt. It totally transformed the way he then worked with native trees. When I learnt Maggy was planning to sell the Steading, I started making this film to inspire other people through Tim’s work.”
“I started time-sensitive filming, confident in the belief that the film would get commissioned. Wrong! During that time, the market for single documentaries had really changed. Three years down the line, I had some of the best material I’ve ever filmed but no screen industry investment. So I launched a Crowdfunder to raise completion finance. Over 200 people contributed. Their generous support demonstrated the power of a community of interest to make things happen. I have arranged grassroots distribution across the UK via independent cinemas and community organisations. We have had 24 screenings to date, many of which have been sold out.”
“Most of my work over the last 15 years has been about our relationship with the land and rural ways of life. Much of it has been inspired by my own experiences as a farmer and crofter and working in the woods. These stories are often overlooked as marginal by urban institutions. The enthusiasm of audiences for “Magician With Wood” has been tremendous and has proven the hunger for stories about meaningful connection with the land around us and with each other.”
