Boris Thompson-Roylance

This week we put on an exclusive pre-release screening for @deadbeatboris latest project ‘The Land Remains’ at @sohohouse 🎬 ‘The Land Remains’ is a single-channel video installation that places Britain’s renewed interest in folklore and ritual in dialogue with the Bibby Stockholm asylum barge, exploring how land, migration, and belonging shape national identity today. It was a magical evening, full of collaborators, close friends and partners of the project. And a special thank you to @aliceaedy for hosting the post screening Q&A panel discussion. This is just the beginning of the film’s journey. We have more exciting news to come and are very excited for you all to watch it in a cinema, gallery, or public space soon. Photography @yumaelwika 📸

@deadbeatboris latest project ‘The Land Remains’ is in official competition at @offbeatfilm film festival. ✨ ‘The Land Remains’ is a single-channel video installation that places Britain’s renewed interest in folklore and ritual in dialogue with the Bibby Stockholm asylum barge, exploring how land, migration, and belonging shape national identity today. Boris spent a year filming pre-christian ceremonies and traditions across the country. Pagan practices, aligned with the Gaelic calendar wheel, structured around solstices, equinoxes, and seasonal thresholds. The film features many prominent voices in the folk community, including singer and song collector @samleesong and alchemist @pulvers.apothecary . You can book tickets to the screening in the bio. It is part of the programmed called OFFBEAT FOLK FILM FESTIVAL: LOOKING IN’, about wider and more diverse voices in folk. These films document the people whose role in the story of what it is to be British is often overlooked. These joyful, thoughtful and important films show the outsize contribution made to our culture and our identity by minority voices.

Weekend plans? Watch OUR LAND, now showing in selected cinemas across the UK! I’m immensely proud of my friends @orbanwallace @leofilmsound @jamiewolfeld @aliceaedy having made such a triumphant, vital documentary exploring our evolving relationship to landscape and the urgent need to rebuild meaningful connections with the land around us. @our_land_documentary dares to tread where few have trespassed before, asking the timely question of who has the right to roam in the English countryside? The UK is a wild and beautiful place, but the vast majority of it is off limits to the general public, with 92% of land and 97% of all rivers in England not legally accessible. At the same time, it is a landscape shaped by centuries of inheritance and tradition, with land held and cared for by families across multiple generations. OUR LAND takes us to the heart of the @right.2roam movement as it embarks on a provocative trail of mass trespass, campaigning and education, while also exploring landowners’ concerns around environmental protection and the danger such widespread access could pose to a landscape already under threat.

We are delighted to bring you the teaser of The Land Remains… The Land Remains places Britain’s renewed interest in folklore and ritual in dialogue with the Bibby Stockholm asylum barge, exploring how land, migration, and belonging shape national identity today. Across a year, director, @deadbeatboris spent a year filming pre-christian traditions and sacred sites across the country. Pagan practices, aligned with the calendar wheel, structured around the solstices, equinoxes, and seasonal thresholds. Alongside this, Boris spent a year documenting the Bibby Stockholm Barge in Portland, Dorset, which housed hundreds of male asylum seekers. The filmmaker saw the Barge as a symbol of the previous Governments hostile environment. A powerful convergence of two themes - migration, and connection to the land - with a powerful manifesto for divided times “we are a migrant nation”. The film features many prominent voices in the folk community, including folk singer and song collector @samleesong and alchemist and apothecarist @pulvers.apothecary The Land Remains is coming soon. Keep your eyes peeled for more details!

Britain can be understood as an island shaped by ritual, migration, and the persistence of the past in the present.

Filmmaker @deadbeatboris latest work places Britain’s renewed interest in folklore and ritual in dialogue with the Bibby Stockholm asylum barge, exploring how land, migration, and belonging shape national identity today. The film features many prominent voices in the folk community, including folk singer and song collector @samleesong and alchemist and apothecarist @pulvers.apothecary The crew includes Boris’s frequent collaborators, cinematographer @deadbeatjack , composer @toddspeakmansound and colourists @harborpictureco_uk @maraciorba @on8mil and @feralequipment You can watch The Land Remains at the @offbeatfilm Folk Festival on May 10th.

It’s an absolute joy to announce that we have won not 1, not 2 but 3 Webby Awards! 🤩 First time I’ve ever won an award for a music video and it’s all because of your crazy ambitious idea @dariakorsak and your mad skills for seeing it through at every stage. You worked so incredibly hard and to see that dedication recognised on such a global stage feels incredibly justified! You are a highly deserving beautiful person. Not bad for your directorial debut!! A massive THANK YOU to @deadbeatfilms and @deadbeatboris for their help with live-action and co-development @thewebbyawards for the nominations and the wins…and to everyone who voted for I AM__ for the people’s choice! And to all those 100 of you who worked on and believed in this giant endeavour.

@embercombeuk is a place to breathe.
 To remember who you are.
 To build resilience in uncertain times.
 To step forward in courageous service. Inspired by nature. Rooted in community. Grounded in action.
 When I attended ’The Journey’, Embercombe’s flagship retreat, something stirred in me. An awakening of an ancient indigenous knowledge that was always there, just waiting to be re-discovered. ‘The Land Remains’ started with Embercombe. So it is an honour to have @mac.macartney support the project and its future. You can watch ‘The Land Remains’ at the @offbeatfilm Folk Festival on May 10th. Ticket link is in my bio.

48 hours to make a cinematic, emotive docu-style ad capturing a world first for electric aviation? Challenge accepted. We’ve been working with pioneers of electric aviation, @verticalaerospace since 2021, back when the aircraft existed as CAD drawings and big dreams. Capturing the world’s first ever two-way transition flight this week felt like a true full circle moment. When Director @deadbeatboris called for five camera units on the ground, a chase helicopter shooting slow motion, and a second helicopter rigged with a Red Raptor operated by the legends at GB Helicopters, it was no small ask. For producer @producertoma , it was a serious logistical challenge, but he pulled it out the bag. It’s been an honour to document Vertical Aerospace’s journey so far, and we’re excited for the next chapters ahead. Director: Boris Thompson-Roylance @deadbeatboris Producer: Anthony Toma @producertoma DOP: Lorenzo Levrini @lorenzolevrini Camera Operators: Tomas Soltonas @tomsol , John Letsinger @john.letsinger , Adrian Cabello @adrian.cabello Camera Operator & Spark: Harry Basey @harrybasey 1st ACs: Oscar Harrison oscarharrisonfilm, Connor Hutton @connorjhutton_film , Anil Duru @anildurucamera 2nd AC: Falco Caldeira @alwaysslatin Camera Trainee: Connor Sweetman @connor_sweetman_ Sound Recordist: Adam Hurley @soundrecordist.uk On-site Editor: Jacob Elder @jacobcharleselder Aerial Unit: GB Helicopter @gbhelicopters Editor: Boris Thompson-Roylance @deadbeatboris Colour: Joseph Guy @josephalexanderguy Sound: Todd Speakman @toddspeakmansound Equipment hire: @vmi.tv

“The paths of the razors edge” The mountains have recently been a place of sanctuary and healing for me. They offer a majestic wisdom and sense of anchoring like no other. I keep coming back to them. I was fortunate enough to hike the Himalayas back in Spring 2024. It was a tough period of time for me. There was a lot of processing to do. I set the goal to hike the Himalayas on my own, no guide, no porter, just my backpack and own two feet. It was foolish, often dangerous but regardless, I managed to scale a 5,000 metre summit by myself. I also managed to find myself backstage at a Maha Shiarati psytrance rave in Kathmandu. #adventurephotography #nepal #himalayas #travelphotography #himalyangeographic

Deadbeat Live has grown into something much bigger. We don’t just film live events and festivals, we offer bands and artists a fully cohesive, unifying creative vision, from screen to stage, built totally in collaboration with them. Last year, Electronic duo @francmoody commissioned me to not only direct their music videos, visualisers and Spotify canvas, but also stage design and direct their headline show at Brixton Academy, alongside @elliottlc , designed and built by @laulit which my team at @deadbeatfilms filmed @tomsolt and @matthew_carless made into a series of live concert videos. Later in the year, I adapted the album visuals to support Franc Moody’s massive @drumsheds live performance. Our canvas was a massive, high-definition LED, 48-meter-long screen in the main room (Room X). This is an exciting evolution. If you’re an artist, management, or event organiser, get in touch and let’s create something iconic. 🚀