Leading lecturer’s documentary premiered at film festival

‘Dreams are Free’, a 60-minute documentary about the life and work of legendary jazz musician Bobby Wellins, was screened to a sold-out audience this week at the Chichester Film Festival.

The film was produced and directed by Brighton Film School Creative Director Gary Barber, and edited and co-produced by lecturer Paul Dutnall. Gary first met and interviewed Bobby ten years previously and says he was “enchanted by his stories, lyrical voice and his passion for music”. The film was completed and first shown at the Brighton Film Festival in 2013.

Since then, the film has been screened at several film and Jazz festivals and was a huge hit with the audience on Monday night, describing the documentary as a “beautifully intimate portrait of Bobby”.

‘Dreams are Free’ Director Gary Barber, is thrilled with the positive reviews, he said: “It’s always satisfying to share your work with an audience as you never know how it will play. Film festivals are a great way to see your work on a big screen and to sense the reaction from an audience.”

Alongside Gary’s independent filmmaking, he hopes to inspire his students to achieve remarkable things in the British film industry, he said: “Making films is hard enough but finishing and submitting them to festivals is even harder. At Brighton Film School, we support and encourage students to produce films that are both shot and edited to a high standard but also have a sound design and grade so they can be submitted to festivals.”