The Stones Are Ours - A Documentary Film
Salisbury, Wiltshire, United Kingdom
Aim: A new feature film documenting the 50th Anniversary of the first Free Stonehenge Festival, celebrating its decade-long legacy from 1974-1984
(Photographs © NMR/English Heritage)
"The Stones Are Ours" was a phrase seen on makeshift flags at the Free Stonehenge festival which kicked off 50 years ago this year. Shot on Super8 and 16mm, this film will document the Wallies of Wessex from early June until the zenith of Summer 2024.
The documentary is currently a collaboration between Grierson shortlisted Director Giulia Franchi (an old Salisbury native) and Wally Dean (a.k.a "The Archive Keeper" and current caretaker of Wally Hope's ashbox).
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They included in their number Sir Wally Raleigh and Wally Woof the Dog, they gave their address as 'Fort Wally, c/o God, Jesus and Buddha, Garden of Allah, Stonehenge Monument, Salisbury, Wiltshire', and they had a snappy motto: "Every Body is Wally, Every Day is a Sun Day". When they lost the case, Wally Hope told the press: 'These legal arguments are like a cannon ball bouncing backwards and forwards in blancmange. We won, because we hold Stonehenge in our hearts. We are not squatters, we are men of God. We want to plant a Garden of Eden with apricots and cherries, where there will be guitars instead of guns and the sun will be our nuclear bomb.'
(© Bari Watt)
The film will be an eclectic mix of stories and memories woven together with a mix of Super8 and 16mm captured during June until the Summer Solstice 2024, celebrating the history of the festival and the Wally legacy. We are also encouraging any individuals with original archive photographs, footage and artwork from the festival years 1974-84 to contact us if they would like their images to feature in this film.
(© John Walker)
(© David Rose)
If you're not able to donate but you would like to support the project with original photographs, artwork or videos from any of the festival years between 1974-84 please send any attachments with your full name to be added to the credits to: [email protected]
(Note: you must be the original owner of the documents to submit them or have the appropriate permission to share on someone else's behalf.)
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www.aarontrinder.co.uk/freeparty
(Background B&W photographs © Paul Fraser)
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If you have a brand or organisation that would like to sponsor the film in some capacity, please get in touch. We are currently supported by:
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| Why Now? |
This film is particularly important, not just because of the 50th anniversary since the festival and the anniversary of Battle of the Beanfield, but also because many of the original Wallies have since passed away - if we do not record these stories now, a huge part of the heritage surrounding Stonehenge will be lost.
| Director's Statement |
"After visiting Stonehenge for the Winter Solstice last year, I began researching for a writing project which led me to find the story of Wally Hope. I reached out to Wally Dean who welcomed me into the world of the Wallies and I've since been given the title Wally Jules!
I had been living on communal land in a 1990 Dodge 50 Series horse box on the lead up to finding the Wallies so it felt very resonant reading about and watching the police roadblock preventing access to the 1985 Stonehenge festival. The statements made by eye witness accounts of this event (now known as Battle of the Beanfield) mentioned violence instigated by police against heavily pregnant women and children while other officers set fire to people’s vehicles, destroying life-long possessions and homes.
There are many reasons I want to make this film and with this year being the 50th anniversary of the festival, it's an incredibly time sensitive project which parallels a lot of social issues still ongoing. With the recent proposed tunnel build around Stonehenge which has also been hugely divisive for local communities, it seems that the Stones belong less and less to the people for whom it has spiritual and historical importance and more to commercial enterprise.
With your support and if we reach our targets (or surpass them!), I will be able to hire a strong crew to share the load and make this film in my hometown as beautiful as it can be.
Thank you!
Wally Jules x"
You can't lose when you play the Ace of Hearts. - Wally Hope
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| FAQs |
Where will my donations go?
- Donations will help us pay for the cost of filming on Super8 and 16mm reels plus processing and scanning
- Crew costs (so we can pay our crew fair standard rates and extra crew might be needed to split the day/ night of the Solstice so nobody works ungodly hours!)
- Editing
Our stretch targets
£10,000
- Sound design and mixing
- Film festival submission fees
£20,000+
- Licenses for broadcast and newspaper archive footage/ photographs from the years ’74-’84 and Battle of the Beanfield
- Music licenses (help us source some sounds from the 70s/80s!)
- Local community screenings
- Oral history/ photography exhibition
If I donate, when can I redeem the incentive?
Most of our incentives can only happen after the film is completed or the reels have been processed so this will take a bit of time. We will keep everyone updated so bear with us!
Can we exceed the goal?
YES! Exceeding our goal would allow us to make a better documentary. We have set our goal at the low end so if we were able to exceed it, it would allow us to make a beautiful film with a better crew and a bigger audience.
(© NMR/English Heritage)