Abingdon Film Unit » AFU Tenth Anniversary Screening & Tribute to Michael Grigsby

Contact: Head of Drama, Jeremy Taylor, +44 (0)1235 849002,

AFU Members past and present mingle with AFU Tutors and some of Michael Grigsby's former film collaborators after the anniversary screening

AFU Members past and present mingle with AFU Tutors and some of Michael Grigsby's former film collaborators after the anniversary screening

AFU Tenth Anniversary Screening & Tribute to Michael Grigsby

May 21, 2013
The tenth annual screening of new work by members of the Abingdon Film Unit took place on Saturday 18 May at Abingdon School. The occasion was both uplifting and moving as the AFU marked its tenth birthday only nine weeks after the death of its co-founder, the leading British documentarist Michael Grigsby.

Seven new films by current members of the Unit received their premieres in a first half that saw the AFU’s total output reach 111 films. After the interval, a retrospective created by former AFU member Matt Copson combined extracts from filmed interviews with Michael Grigsby, scenes from the first Abingdon films he made in the 1950s and clips from his later television documentaries, as well as a montage of AFU films from the last ten years.

Afterwards, in the foyer, past and present members of the AFU rubbed shoulders with AFU tutors Geoff Dunbar, Jonas Mortensen, Colin O’Toole, Duncan Pickstock and Rebekah Tolley to share fond memories of Michael Grigsby and the films he helped AFU students to make.

Pictured above are (left to right): Duncan Pickstock, John Furse, Jeremy Taylor, Rebekah Tolley, Colin O’Toole, Tom Bateman, Charmian Hart, Will Mcdowell, Will Abell, Michael Bicarregui; (crouching): Jonas Mortensen, Matt Copson