Project Detail

Bata-ville: We are not Afraid of the Future

Synopsis

Bata-ville is a bittersweet documentary record of a coach trip to the origins of the Bata shoe empire in Zlín in the Czech Republic. Against the backdrop of regeneration in their local communities, former employees of the now-closed UK shoe factories in East Tilbury (Essex) and Maryport (Cumbria) are led on a journey that begins as a free holiday but soon becomes an opportunity for a collective imagining of what entrepreneur Tomas Bata's maxim 'We are not afraid of the future' means for them in 21st- century Britain.

Inspired by the contrast between the idealism of Bata and the more recent industrial decline of East Tilbury and Maryport, host/directors Pope and Guthrie lead this unorthodox coach party on a journey through Bata's legacy.
 

Details

Year
2006
Type of project
Features
Running time
93 mins
Format
DVD/DigiBeta
Director
Nina Pope, Karen Guthrie 1st Feature
Producer
Andrew Chitty
Co-Producer
Andrew Chitty
Editor
Doug Howarth
Screenwriter
Nina Pope, Karen Guthrie
Director of Photography
John Podpadec
Sound
Paul Baker
Composer
Tim Olden
Principal cast
Sean Guthrie (Roads to Siam), Thurrock Spectrum Brass

Production Status

Production Company

J Goodings Pie and Mash Shop

257 Well Street
London E9 6RG
UK

T +44 (0)20 8985 4900

directors@bata-ville.com

Sales Company

Somewhere.org.uk

J Goodings Pie and Mash Shop
257 Well Street
London E9 6RG
UK

T +44 (0)20 8985 4900

Page updates

This page was last updated on 12th May 2025. Please let us know if we need to make any amendments or request edit access by clicking below.

See also

You may also be interested in other relevant projects in the database.

Julie Root as Rita Last Strike

Director: Helen Lyons-Curran

Year: 2026

A woman's New Year's Eve plans are thrown off course in a taut and tense thriller.

A woman with dark brown hair holds a pair of scissors and looks frightened in a big house. The Daughters (Las hijas)

Director: Daniel Romero

Year: 2026

When Basque woman, Ane (20), is kidnapped by a male taxi driver, she wakes up in a mysterious house in the countryside and discovers that the three other women being held captive act as the kidnapper’s ‘daughters’, with the eldest ‘daughter’ released back into society each time a new daughter is brought into the house. Terrified, Ane must convince the other ‘daughters’ to escape, but they have other plans.

An older woman and a young teenager sit opposite eachother in a nail salon. Sharks Never Sleep

Director: Kieran Stringfellow

Year: 2026

Whilst doing work experience at her aunt’s nail salon, 16-year-old Saskia struggles to find her place among the women around her. But as she begins to settle in, an unexpected discovery forces her to see her aunt in a new light.