XVI New British Film Festival

City:
Moscow

Cinemas:
Documentary Film Center
Formula Kino Horizont
Formula Kino Praga

Dates:
28 October – 28 November 2015

Partners:
British Council
CoolConnections


Choose city for details:


Темная лошадка
Dark Horse

Country: Great Britain
Year: 2015
Director: Louise Osmond
Genre: documentary
Language: English
Translation: russian subtitles
Time: 1 hour 25 minutes
Возраст: 16+

In 2000, an unlikely group of Welsh villagers decided their destiny was to become racehorse owners. The problem? They had little cash and zero experience.

Louise Osmond’s punch-the-air documentary tells how a ragtag syndicate of 30 locals in a working men’s club, led by a plucky barmaid, Jan, and an unhappy former tax adviser, Howard, bred the horse they named Dream Alliance. With each syndicate member investing £10 a week, they raised the animal on a scrappy allotment before handing him over to a more experienced but sceptical trainer. They then watched – often from behind their fingers in the local pub – as Dream Alliance competed in the 2009 Welsh National and the 2010 Grand National, winning a total of £137,000 in prize money along the way.

The ups and downs – wins, losses, injuries, jealous locals calling Dream a ‘donkey’ or ‘sick note’ – give Dark Horse its own rousing shape. There are also some brilliant characters here. Osmond stresses how both Jan and Howard were looking for something extra in their lives. Jan felt she’d always been seen as an appendage to someone else, first her brother then her husband (‘all through my life, I’ve never really been me’), while Howard was bruised from a mid-life career blip. Jan is especially endearing: ‘It got to the point where I wanted to go out and buy a burqa,’ she says, explaining how she dealt with newfound fame.

Overall, this is a rousing real-life fairy tale made with both heart and humour.

 

Awards and festivals:

Sundance Film Festival - World Cinema Documentary Audience Award

Schedule:

Moscow: Documentary Film Center

1 November, Sunday

17:00 Dark Horse

5 November, Thursday

19:00 Dark Horse