Top Awards for Circle Eight Film Group

We are proud to announce that the Group has won two of the top awards at the recent South East Region Film Festival, which took place at the Oast Theatre, in Tonbridge, on May 11th. We won the Festival’s top award – the South East Regional Shield – for ‘Out of the Blue’, alongside the Croydon Cup for the best documentary movie.

‘Out of the Blue’ tells the life stories of Surrey couple Hazel and Peter Banting, who are now both aged in their 90’s. Before the Second World War, Hazel was a child film star, working at Shepperton Studios under her stage name of Hazel Ascot. Before retirement Peter was an architect with the British War Graves Commission, but during the Second World War he saw active service with RAF Bomber Command as a member of the famous Pathfinders group. In the 20 minute film, Hazel reminisces about her unexpected rise to childhood screen stardom with excerpts from her movies ‘Stepping Toes’ and ‘Talking Feet’.

Sitting beside her, Peter relives his dangerous wartime exploits on bombing raids over Germany as a bomb aimer located in the nose of a Lancaster Bomber. The film shows both Hazel and Peter chatting informally about their lives while the cameras recorded their memories without any interruption.

There will be an opportunity for audiences to see ‘Out of the Blue’ when it is shown as part of Guildford’s Summer Festival at Guildford’s Guildhall on Friday July 19th, beginning at 7:45pm.