Back in the early Summer of 2019, I was invited by friend and filmmaker, Jordan Buckner, to produce his short animated film, When The Tides Went Down, for Screen South and the BBC. Jordan and I have worked together previously on the live-synchronisation animations La creation du monde (2013) and Red & The Kingdom Of Sound (2017) for ACT and ONE respectively, and Jordan’s //_sleeper for the BFI.
When When The Tides Went Down is broadcast on BBC4 on Sunday night at 10.55pm as part of a showcase of new animation by young directors, it will no doubt strike a peculiarly chilling note for audiences in light of our current circumstances. While Jordan’s haunting vision of a ruined England speaks to some unspecified extinction event triggered by climate change, it makes for unsettling viewing as we sit inside our houses contemplating the far-reaching effects of COVID19.
Filmmakers have been drawn time and again to imagining the end-of-days. When The Tides Went Down is an elegiac and ambiguous addition to the genre. Watching Jordan’s film again I was drawn to sound designer Nainita Desai’s use of the plaintive cry of the curlew; I was reminded how bird song has quickly become a key motif of our present predicament, how bird song has heightened our sensitivity to the emptiness of our streets and encourages us, however queasily, to imagine the peacefulness of a world without us.
When The Tides Went Down / BBC4 / Sunday 26th April / 10.55pm
Red's Kingdom 
Sounds interesting.
https://monthlycritic.wordpress.com/2020/04/20/misbehaviour/ https://monthlycritic.wordpress.com/2020/04/21/who-you-think-i-am/
My latest two reviews if you fancy reading.
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Many thanks – and yep, will do.
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Much more on site too.
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Great to see this wonderful, haunting film going out on the BBC, congrats all !
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Hey Phil 🙂 As one of the voice talents in the film, you’re a part of what makes the film work in the way it does, so thank you and I hope you get the chance to see it when it goes out later this week.
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Reblogged this on Hedgecrows and commented:
Delighted to see this haunting and beautiful film by Jordan Buckner is to be broadcast on BBC 4 this weekend. I contributed some voice to the soundtrack, but, in spite of that, When the Tides Went Down is brilliant! It’ll be on the telly this Sunday 26th April, at 10.55 as part of a new animation showcase, well done Jordan! Here’s a nice post about the film on Phil Gomm’s blog,, who produced it.
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