Overlapping emotional undercurrents between an ancestor and an artist on the River Thames in Victorian England.

In 1872, whilst living beside the river Thames in Chelsea, London, James Abbott McNeill Whistler produced the atmospheric, tonal painting Nocturne in Blue and Gold, Old Battersea Bridge. Influenced by Japanese prints, his innovative work was totally misunderstood and even ridiculed in Victorian England. Sarah Tremlett's ancestor was a lighterman (bargeman), living at the same time, at Swan Wharf, Battersea, on the poor side of the river, and just a stone’s throw from this view. It is possible the man in the picture could be George, and he could even have ferried Whistler to ideal sites for painting. However, I also felt that there were hidden emotional currents in both their backgrounds that unknowingly made Whistler drawn to the lonely figure. The poem is written in neo-Symbolist mode, and the contemporary footage is from the same point of view as the painting. The soundscape by leading Belgian composer Marc Neys, though not inspired by Debussy, evolved from Tremlett’s fascination with his repetitive phrases, and his friendship with Whistler. This film is taken from TREE, a forthcoming family history chronicle by Sarah Tremlett.

This is the shorter, five-minute version of the film. There is also a seven-minute version with a longer poem.

This work also experiments with painting with film

BEST SOUND DESIGN Bracciano Film and Arts Festival, Italy, July 2025 for the extended version
REELpoetry, Houston, April, 2025
Absurdah Film Festival, v. 5 Sheerness, UK, August, 2025
Nomination Digital Graffix Film Awards, Montreal, Canada, 2025 (best sound)
The River Has No Colour project, curated by Lee Campbell, London, 2025. POW! In collaboration with Hypermedia, Gravesend,
14 August, 2025. Poetry reading and Nocturne for a Lighterman screening.

POW! in collaboration with Insurgent Press
Verbal Discharge North, All Good Bookshop, London N8, 28 August 2025. Poetry reading and screening and Nocturne for a Lighterman screening.

Nocturno para un lanchero
FOTOGENIA no. 7, International Cinepoetry and Divergent Narratives Festival, Mexico City, November, 2025

Brief Synopsis:

Set in Port Talbot, south Wales, as the steelworks fall silent, 'A Spider’s Lunch & Other Sounds' is a listening film that follows men’s groups on immersive walks, blending analogue and digital imagery to explore mental health, memory, and the transformative power of sound.


Long Synopsis:

A Spider's Lunch & Other Sounds is a documentary that builds on an established research project, 'Greensounds', that explores the significance of ‘green’ (natural) acoustics and our understanding of ourselves as listener to the natural world. Set in Port Talbot, south Wales, amidst huge economic upheaval, we document men’s Walk-and-Talk groups as they participate in our immersive listening walks over a summer.

They use directional microphones and headphones to amplify the forest soundscape - from distant industry to insects on the move. Microphones synced to record the audio of whatever the participants point at, paired with analogue and digital visuals designed to strengthen and intensify, absorb the film’s audience into the experience.

Transcending ordinary walks in the woods, the film oscillates between discovery and memory; conversations emerge, intertwining personal narratives with broader themes of the environment, men's mental health and shifting identities.

A seasoned hitman is forced to mentor his boss's chaotic, selfie obsessed, nepo baby turned assassin intern in a warehouse stakeout. But when the mission goes sideways, she proves she's got more than just good lighting and great brows. Welcome to espionage in the influencer era #slay.... literally.

A terminally-online office drone’s obsession with J-pop web forums fuels his hallucinatory insomnia.

In the mid-2000s, Rick Canty lost his mother and their home in Barry, Wales. Evicted, he climbed onto his roof in protest, remaining there for years. RICK ON THE ROOF uses candid interviews and archive to reveal how his quiet neighbourhood transformed into a thriving community. Neighbours threw street parties and rallied around Rick through storms, until he was injured under mysterious circumstances.

Amidst the backdrop of today's cost of living crisis, the town reflects on Rick's extraordinary defiance. This bittersweet documentary tells the peculiar story of one man on a roof who inspired and united a working-class Welsh community.

Cardiff couple Marc and Gwen consider buying a second home in Cardigan, but they're surprised to find that the locals are all wearing cardigans. When they decide to explore the town on foot, a policeman confronts them, and threatens to write them a ticket for their shocking lack of knitwear.

From murky kelp forests to scallop burial grounds and a UV lit cosmic expanse, Rock Pool’s non-narrative flow draws its audience through the circadian cycles that turn the worlds beneath our feet. As commonplace as they are alien, these cauldrons of primordial wonder are animated by an innovative experimental soundscape and seamless, layered montage.