Overview:
"A work of slow cinema...this is filmmaking that doesn't cut corners and takes its time." - Financial Times
"Tender, meditative and magical" - Sight & Sound
"Poignant and moving, meditative and weirdly hypnotic" - Mark Kermode
We were delighted to work with Dartmouth Films and BAFTA-nominated filmmaker Dylan Howitt (Out of Thin Air) again, this time on The Nettle Dress, a modern fairytale about the healing power of nature and craft. Textile artist Allan Brown spends seven years making a dress from scratch, using 14,400 feet of thread made from the fibre of locally foraged stinging nettles. In doing so, he relearns ancient crafts of foraging, spinning, weaving, cutting and sewing. This helps Allan survive the death of his wife, which leaves him and their four children bereft.
The Nettle Dress has been a word-of-mouth phenomenon and has shown at a staggering 100 locations and counting across the UK and Ireland, winning Audience Awards at film festivals including Cincity, Screenplay and Glimmerglass Film Days in New York. The film was also longlisted for the British Independent Film Awards for Best Feature Documentary, keeping good company with directors Errol Morris, Steve McQueen and Kevin Macdonald.
PR campaign:
tpr media carried out a national campaign across TV, radio and podcast, as well as national and trade publications. Coverage highlights included a feature by PA (formerly the Press Association) which was picked up by the Independent and over 200 regional papers. Other national coverage included a two-page interview in Observer Magazine for the Self & Wellbeing pages and a feature in The Big Issue. The film was extensively reviewed by national publications (Financial Times; The Sunday Times; Guardian; Observer Magazine) and was featured in The Sunday Times ‘Critics Choice’, as well as tabloids (Daily Mail), trade outlets (Sight & Sound; Total Film). The Nettle Dress was also mentioned in Screen Daily after the film was longlisted for the BIFA’s Best Feature Documentary. There were interviews on national radio (Times Radio), regional radio (BBC Radio London; BBC Radio Sussex), as well as a bonus review on Kermode & Mayo's Take, an interview on the Accidental Gods podcast and several textile podcasts (The Long Thread podcast & Textile Talks). Overall, tpr placed 300+ pieces of coverage, amounting to an advertising value of £2.69M with an OTS (opportunity to see) of 91.1M.
