Perthshire-raised filmmaker Sam Watkins recently clinched the coveted best music documentary short award at the ninth annual Jerome Indie Film & Music Festival in Arizona, USA.
The 29-year-old Dundee University computer science graduate, who grew up in Madderty, scored the accolade for his debut short documentary ‘The Vanishing Strings of the Andes’.
The film focuses on the South American guitar luthiers fighting globalization.
To date it has been selected for seven film festivals worldwide.
“I’m absolutely over the moon about the win,” said Sam, adding that it had since won a further award at a film festival in Boston since he returned from Arizona.
“A lot of blood, sweat, and tears went into this documentary, and I’m delighted to receive this award on behalf of everyone who has played a part in its success so far.”
The triumph solidifies Sam’s position as a rising star in the world of filmmaking with various other projects in the pipeline.
But what inspired Sam to get into film making in the first place?
Growing up in Madderty, the former pupil of Madderty Primary and the Loretto School in Musselburgh did some “media and stuff” for his computer science honours project at Dundee University.
From there, the film making aspect emerged, providing the opportunity to combine the technical with the creative.
He worked for local company Waracle during his time in Dundee.
After an internship at BBC Scotland in Glasgow, he moved into commercial video editing work.
When Covid-19 hit in 2020, and he found himself out of a job, he returned to Perthshire where he considered his options.
He decided to set up his own film making company called Watkins Films.
Today, the business has two arms – one being independent film-making and the other being commercial video editing.
“I was always interested in film making,” explained Sam in an interview from his home in southern Spain.
“For instance I was the type of person that when I was a teenager I would watch all of the ‘behind the scenes’ on DVDs and stuff over and over again, because it was so fascinating to me how people used the smoke and mirrors as it were to create these fantastic worlds and amazing places.
“From there it was sort of a thing I was doing in my spare time.
“I started to learn about Photoshop when I was a teenager.
“That helped me enormously to where I am now to be able to understand how to put images together and how to change different image sizes.
“Then after university I started getting much more serious and getting internships and then getting bits of work and finally full time jobs.”
Does Sam prefer feature films or documentaries?
Sam has always been interested in movie making and documentaries.
While he hasn’t ruled out feature films in future, he’s “certainly swung more towards the documentary side of things” for now.
It was through his interest in indigenous people that ‘The Vanishing Strings of the Andes‘ emerged.
The short documentary delves into the heart and soul of Ecuadorian guitar makers along The Route of the Guitars in San Bartolomé, Ecuador.
Sam’s storytelling prowess exposes the hardships faced by these artisans as they strive to preserve their craft amidst fierce global competition.
Featuring interviews with esteemed guitar luthiers, the documentary captures the dedication and unwavering commitment of the craftsmen.
It unearths the threats posed by mass-produced, low-quality guitars flooding the market, particularly from China.
Clocking in at just under 13 minutes, the documentary immerses viewers in the beauty of this endangered craft and the determination of those who keep it alive.
What drew Sam to the project?
Sam, who directed and produced the documentary, said: “I was drawn to the project as I had heard a story about a lost ‘guitar road’ in the mountains of Ecuador, and I was fascinated by it.
“I couldn’t find out anything else about it, so I knew I just had to go myself and experience this intricate craft first hand.
“It’s incredible that the craft has survived for so long – these guitar luthiers have been making stringed instruments since colonial times!
“To the best of my knowledge, nobody has made a film about this story, the guitar makers’ journey, where things stand today, and what the future holds.”
Use of local crew
Sam, who’s a guitarist in his spare time, hired a local guide and crew for the production.
He found it “quite a moving experience” to see the resilience of the people who weren’t born with the creature comforts that many have in the western world.
They were “very welcoming and happy despite all of the problems and stuff that they faced”.
“It’s quite a remote part of the world,” said Sam, when asked about the main challenges the population faces.
“The closest city would be an hour and a half drive away.
“That’s not an hour and half on a motorway.
“That’s an hour and a half on a bumpy mountainous road.
“It can be a challenge first of all to get there and stuff.
“They have to bring their instruments to the city generally to sell them because you don’t have that customer base there.
“Obviously if you are going to the city to sell them and you are spending less time in your workshop, you are not making as many products as you could and therefore you might not be selling as much.”
Did Sam enjoy the Jerome festival?
Having visited several film festivals previously, and with the Jerome Indie Film & Music Festival described by Moviemaker Magazine as “one of the 25 Coolest Film Festivals in the World” back in 2017, Sam confirmed it was indeed “one of the coolest” he’d been to.
“It’s this lovely charming little former mining town in the mountains and you have this view all the way over to Sidona National Park,” he said.
“When you get there there’s this quite dramatic view.
“Secondly the people are absolutely fantastic, and they hold all of their events in these really interesting places.
“There’s a former town hall which had burnt down. If I remember correctly, they had this big space in there where they would hold morning meetings, they would show films and stuff, they would also have film maker events where they’d gather together.
“They have a train that goes through the mountains on which they show some of the film makers films which is really incredible.
“There’s also this lovely old theatre where they have this lovely equipment and projectors in which they also showed some of the films.”
What other projects is Sam working on?
Sam said he self-funded his film which “cost thousands”.
Going to film festivals is “not cheap either”.
That’s helped concentrate his mind on what to do next.
“Apart from promoting the film, I’m focussing on my commercial video editing work and after that I have a few ideas for independent films,” he said.
“There’s an interesting one near Angel Falls in Venezuela that I’m thinking about.
“I think it would also be cool to see if they’d do a follow up to ‘The Vanishing Strings of the Andes’.
“I think what currently interests me is themes of indigenous people around the world because I find that a fascinating subject.
“A lot of times it can be a microcosm for what’s going on in the sort of larger society.
“For instance in Venezuela, indigenous people there are suffering as a result of the larger societal problems.
“It’s the same thing in this current project.
“These fantastic craftsmen in the mountains are suffering because of the globalisation and China and other nations making cheap guitars.”
Sam hopes people will watch his film.
It’s also inspired him to do more and who knows, maybe one day he’ll win a Bafta.
“I just saw that there’s a few Dundee connections to the Baftas this year,” he said.
“That would be a major personal goal for me sometime in the future – to win a Bafta.
“I see Brian Cox is up for one.
“I was super excited about that given the fact he was rector during my time at Dundee University.
“I really hope he gets that! Who knows maybe one day I can win one myself!”
How to watch The Vanishing Strings of the Andes documentary for free
‘The Vanishing Strings of the Andes’ can be watched for free on Discovered.tv https://discovered.tv/watch/ZajlAQVmAtnn
For more information about Sam Watkins and his film company, go to the Watkins Films website or Instagram.
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