I read an astonishing statistic the other day (care of Stephen Follows obvs) that two thirds of all feature films ever made have been made since the turn of the millennium. One of the artefacts of being (hopefully) halfway through my life is that films made in the middle to end of the last century take on a false perspective. The distortion bends both ways. Filmmakers wear their influences with pride, often obsessively so. Producers’ eyes too are always on the rear view, trying to mirror past successes. At the same time runs the collective sigh that everything is worse now and thanks to streaming and computer games and social media and AI, the audience have moved on and no one cares. So it’s stimulating to think, a quarter of the way through this century, most films are recent. Don’t take this as bromide. I don’t discount that this might also mean that more than two thirds of all films ever made aren’t that great. I think I’d probably lean towards that view whenever they were made…

I met Leslie 20 years ago through Shooting People. We were both loud and opinionated voices and I think initially we argued, if only because initially I argued with everyone. Some took this to heart and seem to have considered me unpardonable ever since but Les’ heart was too big for that. I ended up running Shooting People’s Mobile Cinema, where I’d programme a selection of short films made by members of the community and then, with my brother Chris and our friend Adam we’d tour them round the country in a beat-up VW van. It produced many wonderful stories but none quite as marvellous as when Leslie hosted us in his home in the Shetland Isles. After the screening he took us for a barbecue on the beach. It was June so there was barely any dark at 10pm and Shetland being treeless, he kept a stack of Aberdeen telephone directories in the back of his car in order to light the fire. Seals bobbed in the water whilst we huddled on the sands, random names turning to cinders…