Morris dance movie gets national release - thanks to Oxford petition (From The Oxford Times)

Morris dance movie gets national release - thanks to Oxford petition

4:43pm Tuesday 25th August 2009 in

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A COMEDY film about morris dancing has secured a national release thanks to the efforts of an Oxfordshire woman with a passion for the tradition.

Cat Moore, from Graham Road, Bicester, set up an online petition earlier this year to get a nationwide deal for Morris: A Life With Bells On and it has now secured more than 8,000 signatures to convince a distributor to take it on.

The movie, which stars Sir Derek Jacobi, is set for a London premiere next month and Mrs Moore, 28, has been invited to the event by producer and director Lucy Akhurst.

Mrs Moore said: “When the trailer was first put on the Internet the messages coming from the director and the film company said distributors all liked it but weren’t committing, so they encouraged people to email the distributors.

“I thought there was an easier way if I just got everyone’s names written down in one place.

“I was very surprised by its success. I didn’t really know what sort of response it would get.

“I could have just emailed it around my friends but I wanted it to be more realistic than that. I put links on a couple of morris websites and it basically snowballed. At one point it was getting 1,000 new signatures every couple of days.

“I think what happened was the director was able to take the petition to distributors as evidence of its potential audience.

“I don’t really feel like I did very much, it only took about 10 minutes to set up, but it might just have made the difference.”

Mrs Moore, whose parents are morris dancers, said she was looking forward to attending the premiere on September 24 and seeing the film again three days later when it comes to the Phoenix cinema, in Walton Street, Jericho.

She said: “I’m really excited. It was such a lovely surprise. The director emailed me out of the blue and asked me what I was doing on September 24.

“The film was given a very limited release at some village halls in the south-west earlier this year and they all sold out.

“I know people who’ve seen it and I don’t expect it to be a documentary about morris dancing where you’ll learn something about it, but I’ve heard it is just a very good and very funny British film.”

Director Lucy Akhurst said: “When we heard that someone in Oxford had set up a petition, we had no idea of the monster it would become.

“It became an outlet for people all over the world, desperate to see the film.

“When she finally closed it, there were close to 9,000 signatures. It was extraordinary. And so is she.”

Mrs Moore has taken a break from dancing, but plans to set up her own group in Oxford for female dancers.

For more details, visit the website at morrismovie.com