Film captures 'Beatles' of the piping world
Terry Lee, 604.936.8548; 604.313.7473 (cell), terry@tartantown.com
Marianne Meadahl, PAMR, 778.782.3210
Film captures 'The Beatles’ of the bagpipe world
A new documentary film that gets up close and personal with the six-time world champion Simon Fraser University Pipe Band reveals what it’s like to play in the band and prepare for the intensity of world competition.
Battle of the Bagpipes: A Journey to the World Pipe Band Championship, follows the band and its junior band, the Robert Malcolm Memorial Pipe Band, through its most recent run for victory at the World Pipe Band Championships in Glasgow Scotland in 2009.
The film will air on CBC-TV (in B.C.) on Aug. 7 at 7 p.m., a week before the band competes again on the world stage in Glasgow on Aug. 14.
“We wanted to tell the story of the band’s rise to the top at the Worlds through the eyes of these incredibly talented pipers and drummers, and of the sacrifices they’ve made to get there,” says film producer Jordan Paterson, of SFU’s Learning and Instructional Development Centre (LIDC).
Filmed on location in Scotland by SFU cameraman Thomas Buchan in the days leading up to the 2009 competition, the hour-long documentary focuses candidly on eight band members, illustrating how each generation embraces the craft and prepares for competition.
Band members share their reasons for playing and what it means to be part of the highly successful band, noting some in the piping community have dubbed them “The Beatles” of the bagpipe world.
At the heart of the 47-member senior band are the Lee brothers, Jack, pipe sergeant and Terry, pipe major. Both have been members for nearly three decades and are respected as being among the best players in the world.
Taught to play the pipes by their great-grandfather, who emigrated from Glasgow in the 1940s, they’ve passed the tradition on to their family’s next generation through their sons Alistair, Andrew and John Lee.
“The film tells the story well, it captures the mood and spirit of the band as we prepare for what has become a defining moment for us every year,” says Terry Lee.
The world championships draw thousand of spectators – and more than 200 bands, with a record-breaking 239 competing in 2010 – to Glasgow Green every August.
The film is directed by LIDC’s Thomas Buchan and Hans Goksøyr and is Canada’s first broadcast documentary film about bagpiping.
Doug Davis
Being on of your southern barbarian neighbors, I am unable to watch CBC-TV. How can I watch this great documentary over the internet?
Many thanks,
-- Doug Davis
DDavis@eiu.edu