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How does a Subsea Diver who has been immersed in a dark and murky underworld, take one deep breath and then completely change their world? Their accepted and understood previous existence?
‘In the Bell’ explores the spectrum of experiences in grappling with societal standards and gender presentation.
Bethany, whose incredible career and identity were at odds, spent her professional career working in the most male dominated industries – from serving within the RAF, working within the Oil, Gas & Nuclear Power industries, to starting her own Engineering Consultancy in the Northeast of Scotland. Combining fine art with moving image techniques, Kate captures the story of Bethany, who close to retirement finally connects to the person she already knew she was pre-puberty, and the consequence is transformational.
Using ink and calligraphy tools on canvas to capture the evolving narrative, Bethany’s story comes to life using an innovative technique of cinematography through water. These elements go to emphasizing the psychological and claustrophobic environment. Through ‘In the Bell’, Bethany reflects on her day-to-day life, working within this male-dominated arena. Life takes her from being captured in Egypt during a military coup and being put under house arrest with members of the SAS and Royal Marines, to recovering from a horrific accident whilst diving in the North Sea.
Bethany tells Kate her story of a life of a ‘strange brown bear’, describing the ‘bearsy’ aspects of her life. ‘Bearsy’ is where she played out the traditional male model role, reflecting on the people around her during her extremely successful career as a commercial diver in the North Sea.
Through spoken word, live painting, music and field recordings this 25-minute film brings us to connect unlikely sources: the energy we use to fuel our live and the personal energy it takes to live it.
Improviser Maria Sappho, Kate’s long-standing collaborator, created the unique layers of sound design within the film.
