Sandyman
Ed Chappell's short documentary about a man who draws vast patterns on the beach before the tide takes them. Winner of the first Young Greenhorn award, 2014.
- Director
- Ed Chappell
- Shown at Greenhorn
- 2014
- Award
- Young Greenhorn award, 2014
Sandyman follows Geoff, a well-known local figure on a beach in southern England. He spends hours raking huge, precise patterns into the sand, knowing that the evening tide will wash them away.
Ed Chappell’s film has no narration. It watches Geoff work: his concentration, the exact movements of the rake, the pauses where he steps back to look. An atmospheric, slightly eerie soundtrack does the rest. The light is so bright that one reviewer said it could pass for California. The film ends up as a quiet tribute to art that is made in order to disappear. It also keeps, on screen, the drawings that the sea erased.
At Greenhorn
Sandyman was part of the official selection at the 2014 festival, the festival’s fourth edition. It won the first Young Greenhorn award, a prize for emerging talent that the festival set up that year with IdeasTap and Production Base. The festival’s patron, Mike Leigh, presented the award.
For filmmakers
Sandyman is a good model for a first documentary short: one person, one place, one repeated action, and the patience to let the image carry the film. Our guide to making a short documentary covers how to find and shape a subject like this.
This page is part of an independent archive. Greenhorn the magazine is not connected to the festival's organisers. If you were involved and can correct or add to this record, get in touch.