award winning Feature Documentaries
Check out a selection of feature length documentary films by Filmmaker of the Year (Pro Moviemaker Magazine) and Royal Television Society Award winning documentary filmmaker Jonny Lewis.
Jonny Lewis is a Filmmaker of the Year (Pro Moviemaker Magazine) and RTS Award winning documentary filmmaker producing content for Goldmark Films and has directed a number of award winning and shortlisted feature documentaries. Originally from Cwmbran south Wales and now based in Rutland, Jonny also works freelance for companies such as Rugby Wrap Up, editing America's leading weekly television network broadcast rugby show MLR Weekly which has featured on ESPN in America and weekly on Cox Communication’s YurView Channel 4 in San Diego and Santa Barbara, and Channel 118 in Orange County and Palos Verdes, Marquee Sports Network in Chicago (TV channel of MLB’s Chicago Cubs) as well as streaming channel TheRugbyNetwork.com . Jonny has also worked with Sports Media Services and Welsh Rugby Union TV, as a cameraman & self shooting editor, filming at 6 Nations Rugby, at the Principality Stadium Cardiff. He has also filmed live rugby broadcast on Welsh language channel S4C. Other credits include an award winning documentary on Amazon Prime Video, editing a commercial for Champion System and PRO Rugby USA broadcast on Time Warner Sports Network and ONE World Sports in America as well as working on a series of films for USA Rugby at the Rugby World Cup and producing content for WeLoveClay.com
See showreel and examples of work at www.JonnyLewisFilms.com
Feature Documentaries
Read more about the film projects below.
Graham Boyd: A Life In Colour
Abstract Art Documentary
Akiko Hirai: Mark of the Pot
DOCUMENTARY about Japanese potter
Richard James: Beachcomber as Shaman
Documentary about British Artist Richard James
Randy Johnston | An Expansive Vision
Feature film about American potter for GOLDMARK
Witnessing the Palermo Catacombs
Featuring Iain Sinclair
Ken Matsuzaki | the Intangible Spirit
Feature film about Japanese potter for GOLDMARK
Rugby X London. Behind the Scenes
Behind the Scenes with USA Rugby and Mike Friday | RUGBY WRAP UP
The Schoolgirl The Nazis and The Purple Triangles
Watch on Amazon Prime Video
RON KING | Alphabets, Bandits & Collaborations
Royal Television Society Award shortlisted film
David Suff | Journeys Beyond Appearance
Feature film about artist David Suff
Walter Keeler: Treasures of the Everyday
Documentary film about UK potter | GOLDMARK
Live and Let Dai. David Watkins. A Life In Rugby
Life story of a rugby legend
Paws 2 Remember
Story of a director of a pet funeral home
The Ballymurphy Massacre.
Award winning documentary
USA at Rugby World Cup 2015
Behind the scenes sports documentary about the USA Eagles
Graham Boyd: A Life In Colour | Abstract Art Documentary | GOLDMARK
Graham Boyd: A Life In Colour
Abstract Art Documentary
Royal Television Society Best Factual Award shortlisted film. Two years in the making, this new Goldmark film finds 93 year old veteran of abstraction Graham Boyd at work in his Hertfordshire studio. He talks about his life and inspiration; the early development of his painting into pure abstraction, the impact on his work of his time spent in Africa and America and his continuing artistic journey. http://goldmarkart.com
“Standing in front of his paintings we might feel just such variegations of mood and feeling. They are so alive, so unpredictable, so disconcerting, and, yes, so beautiful if we make them so.”
“I am just curious about what is going to happen … what I can do with colour… I don’t want to do what I have done before … the main thing is to do what surprises me.”
“You’ve done it again, Goldmark! You make the best art documentaries ever. Thank you for showing this inspiring film of an artist who has such humility that one cannot fail to be inspired by him: both as an artist and as a man.”
“Fantastic! One of the best I’ve seen...Thank you!”
Goldmark has presented and sold the work of many classic abstract artists (from Kandinky to Miro to Caro to Hoyland) and of artists whose work deliberately incorporates alongside some kind of figuration the visual findings of abstraction (from Picasso to Matisse to Piper and Richards). It is of course the case that there are many ways in which geometric design, or artificial colour (heightened, say, or darkened, or exaggerated), or expressive brushwork and impasto, or chiaroscuro etc. − all by definition ‘abstract’ devices − are aspects of all kinds of figurative art throughout history. All art is in some sense an abstraction from observed actuality. This exhibition nonetheless, constitutes a significant moment for the gallery: for Graham Boyd is an artist utterly committed to pure abstraction, the first such artist to be ‘represented’ by Goldmark. Graham Boyd spent two years in what was then Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) in the early 1950s and the dramatic scale of the African landscape had a profound impact on his perception of space and its representation. In the 1960s and 70s he discovered acrylic and Boyd now works exclusively in that medium. These experiences and discoveries powered his decisive move away from his studies in illustration and early incarnations as a figurative and landscape painter, towards the use of form and colour as expressive means in their own right. In 1976 he was appointed as Head of Painting at the Hertfordshire College of Art and Design, St. Albans. As a principal Lecturer, he led the team responsible for developing a unique part-time B. A. Hons. Fine Art Degree Course specially designed to meet the needs of mature students. For the past four decades Graham Boyd has worked from his Chipperfield studio in Hertfordshire. Despite his status and global acclaim, Boyd constantly seeks to move on as an artist and attends artists' workshops and symposiums around the world, where he has worked with an international cross-section of painters, sculptors and other media artists, including the late Sir Anthony Caro and the American abstract painter Larry Poons.
Akiko Hirai: 'Mark of the Pot' | DOCUMENTARY about Japanese potter | GOLDMARK
Documentary following Akiko Hirai, from a shy woman growing up in Japan to becoming one of the world's leading potters "My pots display a lot of marks and traces of past events. To describe them in a conventional and very simplified way, they are 'dirty' and 'broken'. I have acquired a lot of 'marks' in my life like my pots. Because of them, I have found that life's obstacles are not really a bad thing, and that I quite like these marks that I have - Akiko Hirai I graduated from my university ceramics course here in the UK in 2003. That same year, I found a studio at The Chocolate Factory, London N16. It is 2021 this year, meaning I have been here for almost 18 years, and this is the place where I have spent the longest and happiest time of my life. I have had bumps and blips like everyone else during that time. My husband Jason sometimes says, in a slightly sarcastic way, that my life has been very eventful. Around my mid-20s, I gave up my regular job in Japan and came here, to a foreign country, without much language or money. I volunteered in a homeless hostel for 8 months, and then decided to change my career completely to the field of ceramics, which was entirely unknown to me, when I was nearly 30 years old. To a sensible English person my life must look preposterous. I was, and maybe am, naive, gullible and clumsy, so I have acquired a lot of 'marks' in my life, like my pots. These are the marks made when I come across life's obstacles. Luckily, I have been helped by so many people in so many ways and I am grateful to have met them. Because of them, I have found that life's obstacles are not really a bad thing, and that I quite like these marks that I have.
Akiko Hirai: 'Mark of the Pot'
DOCUMENTARY about Japanese potter | GOLDMARK FILMS
Photo by Jay Goldmark
Akiko Hirai: 'Mark of the Pot' | DOCUMENTARY about Japanese potter | GOLDMARK
Randy Johnston | An Expansive Vision
feature film about American potter for GOLDMARK
Photo by Jay Goldmark
Randy Johnston | An Expansive Vision - feature film about American potter | GOLDMARK
Randy Johnston | An Expansive Vision
Our documentary tells the story of one of America's most respected studio potters, Randy Johnston. Set against the backdrop of his picturesque Wisconsin studio, it gives a revealing and moving insight into his artistic journey. Kicking against his family's desire for him to become a doctor, Johnston tells of his early travels to Japan, meeting the great Shoji Hamada and apprenticing to National Living Treasure, Tatsuzo Shimaoka. We are also taken on a visit to the Minnesotan studio of his lifelong mentor and friend, 94 year old American legend, Warren MacKenzie. A deep thinker, Johnston talks about his approach to his working practice and his philosophy on art and teaching. Having studied with Warren MacKenzie and Hamada's favourite apprentice, Tatsuzo Shimaoka, Johnston is one of the most exciting and innovative potters working in America today. He is recognized internationally as an artist who has pursued functional expression and brought a fresh aesthetic vision to contemporary form, and for his many contributions to the development of wood kiln technology in the United States. http://www.goldmarkart.com See more films like this at http://www.WeLoveClay.com
Photos by Jay Goldmark
RON KING: Alphabets, Bandits & Collaborations
Feature documentary on world’s leading book artist
2020 Royal Television Society Award nominated Best Factual
When a young boy sees a photo of the decapitated head of notorious Brazilian bandit Lampião in a book, it becomes an obsession and inspires him to create incredible multifaceted artworks in a life time journey that takes him from Brazil, to England, Canada and the United States as he struggles to have his work recognised and accepted.
2020 Royal Television Society Award nominated Best Factual . The RTS Awards are the gold standard of achievement in the television community. Each year our six awards recognise excellence across the entire range of programme making and broadcasting skills.
RON KING: Alphabets, Bandits and Collaborations
When, as a young boy, Ron King saw a photo of the decapitated head of notorious Brazilian bandit Lampião in a book, it gave birth to an obsession which would inspire him to create incredible multifaceted artworks in a life time journey that has, so far, taken him from Brazil, to England, Canada and the United States as he struggled to have his work recognised and accepted.
Ron King has had an artistic life that spans a multi-faceted and inspiring 60 years. His iconographic work is marked by a distinctive, fresh and often pioneering approach. As an artist his work can’t be pinned down by genre but it does have an approach that is hallmarked by a distinctive curiosity, questioning and energy. King is considered one of the modern-day masters of artist books and his cut-out Alphabets are recognised as timeless 20th century works of arts. The iconic status of his Alphabet was recognised in 2011 when the Crafts Council chose it for its '40:40' selection of Forty Objects for Forty Years.
In this new Goldmark film, shot mostly on location in his studio in Sussex, Ron King talks about his life and inspiration; the development of his work and the founding of Circle Press as an ongoing collaboration with other artists. The film highlights his continuing relationship with the USA which was underlined in 2002 with the purchase of the Circle Press' complete output and archives by the Paul Mellon Foundation at The Yale Center for British Art.
King also talks movingly in the film about the sudden death from cancer of his 15 year old son and that of his second son from the same disease 30 years later and the profound effect the passing of his sons has had on his life and his work.
Featuring interviews with writer, art historian and critic Mel Gooding and artist, designer and filmmaker John Christie, this latest Goldmark film provides a sensitive and revealing insight into the life of this extraordinarily inventive and energetic man.
Goldmark Films, based in Uppingham Rutland is the independent film making arm of the world renowned Goldmark Gallery. It specialises in fine art and ceramic films working with artists and pot makers all over the globe. It has been making films for online platforms since 2000 under the guidance of Goldmark MD and producer/director Jay Goldmark who, with RTS award winning* film maker Jonny Lewis, has travelled the world to capture unique insights into the work and character of contemporary artists and ceramic masters. Goldmark Films has produced 24 feature length documentaries and 100 plus shorts since its foundation. Ron King - Alphabets, Bandits and Collaborations is a striking example of the Goldmark template highlighting, as it does, the human story that makes any artist create and entrancing the audience with the quality, verve and excitement of the art itself.
Photos by Jay Goldmark
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Richard James: Beachcomber as Shaman | Artist Documentary
This 30 minute documentary delves into the life and creative processes of Richard James, a visionary assemblage artist renowned for transforming found materials from the natural world into profound works of art. Our film explores James' unique artistic journey, revealing how the recurring themes of astronomy, religion, natural history, and biology intertwine to influence his distinctive work. https://www.goldmarkart.com/ We follow Richard to the Outer Hebrides where, guiding us through the stunning landscape, he talks us through the process of collecting and curating found materials. In a moving interview he discusses his profound relationship to the natural world and his desire to honour and show respect to the flora and fauna that we so often take for granted. We then travel back to his Northamptonshire studio where he selects, combines and transforms these materials into art. Through time-lapse sequences showing the creation of a piece from start to finish, we witness some of the incredible technical processes that he uses to make his constructions, many of which take over three months to complete. We visit a major exhibition of his work at Goldmark Gallery and James talks about the pleasure it gives him when people connect with his work. Our film attempts to open the door to an understanding of Richard James' complex and beautiful assemblage art, celebrate his contributions to contemporary art and inspire viewers to see the beauty and interconnectedness of the natural world through his eyes.
Richard James: Beachcomber as Shaman | Artist Documentary | GOLDMARK
A Word in Your Ear
Photo by Ian Wilkinson
“From the crowded catacombs of Palermo and necrotic aviaries of Northamptonshire, here are our jurors assembled, paper-lipped and unconvinced. Through Ian Wilkinson’s captured corpse-light – illustrious cadavers in whispered conversation with disintegrating psychopomps – and Iain Sinclair’s autoptic interrogation of these familiar strangers, we are granted a startlingly beautiful audience with the final, where in those knowing sockets it is we who are appraised. A mortal wonder.”
Our Late Familiars: Witnessing the Palermo Catacombs DOCUMENTARY | Iain Sinclair & Ian Wilkinson
For close on five centuries the catacombs of Palermo, Sicily, have played host to the undead. When the local Capuchin brotherhood embalmed their first member, preserved in his habit, with him began a tradition of macabre display that prevailed in Sicilian society for over four hundred years. ourlatefamiliars.com/
Today, tourists are encouraged to make their own visits to the crypts. But when artist and Goldmark Atelier’s master printmaker Ian Wilkinson made his, it prompted a visceral re-awakening. He was reminded of two childhood nightmares: a darkened corridor leading to a door, unknown voices whispering from the shadows; and a black bird alighting on the windowsill, announcing it was ‘time to go’. Left with an unshakeable association, he resolved to explore it. He bought himself a camera and over five years returned to document Palermo’s necropolitan populace.
The results are these: 67 photographic images of catacombed saints and sinners, still dressed in their finery. Attending them are a company of portentous birds, bearers of tidings good and ill, in similar states of mummification. Wilkinson discovered them soon after his return from Palermo, entombed within the chimney breast of an abandoned farmstead in Northamptonshire. Excavated by hand and photographed in his home studio, man and bird – and two personal visions – are united in these prints: departed souls and underworld envoys.
What began as a private endeavour to reanimate Palermo’s eternally interred quickly evolved when acclaimed writer Iain Sinclair was apprised of the project. In a fortuitous meeting with the publisher, Mike Goldmark, Sinclair accepted the kind of Sicilian offer that can’t be refused and left town for the catacombs. After years writing his way out of the labyrinth of London’s East End, Sinclair found himself in a true labyrinth, where all the familiar ghosts were waiting, eager to dictate their stories.
Our Late Familiars presents Wilkinson’s haunting imagery with Sinclair’s words: a fever-dream immersion in the plural connections of Palermo and its land of the dead.
Our Late Familiars: Witnessing the Palermo Catacombs DOCUMENTARY
David Suff | Journeys Beyond Appearance
David Suff’s work is almost always based upon observational drawing of the landscape, especially gardens, and is often created on hand-made paper. He has described how there is an important link between the symbol of the garden and spirituality in his work which attempts to illustrate mankind’s constant search for the divine. He has shown in a number of solo shows, in the UK and abroad. http://goldmarkart.com With works held in prominent public and private collections, David Suff is well known for his work on paper – and in particular his large, rich, and meticulously drawn landscapes in coloured pencil. Building up crayon layer upon layer, Suff creates intimate views of enclosed gardens and landscaped spaces that can take many years to complete. Each drawing explores the garden as a place of temporary imposition on the natural world; one of quiet contemplation and spiritual mystery. This film features a look at the life and work of Suff including the making of a small suite of drawings and book called A Conversation with William Blake. It also features Suff’s autobiographical ‘River of Life’ pen drawing stretching over 30 feet long. Featuring footage from the film "River" featuring original music by Martin Simpson and Kathryn Tickell. You can purchase work by David Suff at http://goldmarkart.com
David Suff | Journeys Beyond Appearance
Photos by Jay Goldmark Artwork by David Suff
Ken Matsuzaki | the Intangible Spirit
Feature film about Japanese potter for GOLDMARK
Ken Matsuzaki | the Intangible Spirit
Our documentary tells the story of one of Japan's most respected studio potters, Ken Matsuzaki. Set against the backdrop of his picturesque Mashiko studio in Japan, it gives a revealing insight into his creative journey and his philosophy on art and working practice. Born into an artistic family, Matsuzaki talks of his apprenticeship with National Living Treasure, Tatsuzo Shimaoka and the subsequent difficulties in finding his own voice. We hear how his pottery town was decimated by the terrible earthquake of 2011 and the international efforts to rebuild it. We see him at work in his studio and we are taken to his exhibitions in Japan and England and hear of his desire now to encourage younger Mashiko potters to be true to themselves as artists and promote them on a world stage. http://goldmarkart.com
Photo by Jay Goldmark
Ken Matsuzaki | the Intangible Spirit
Photos by Jay Goldmark
Rugby X London. Behind the Scenes with USA Rugby and Mike Friday | RUGBY WRAP UP
I was lucky enough to be asked to film behind the scenes with USA Rugby 7s coach Mike Friday and the USA Rugby 7s team, including World 7s Player of the Year Perry Baker and “the fastest man in rugby” Carlin Isles at the historic first ever RugbyX. RugbyX is 5 v 5 indoor rugby, with amended laws from traditional rugby union. The first event was held at London’s O2 Arena. Watch now to see access all areas behind the scene look at the event!
Rugby X London.
Behind the Scenes with USA Rugby and Mike Friday | RUGBY WRAP UP
“RugbyX is a brand new, fast paced and fluid format of the game. We’ve changed some of the rules, removing line outs, conversions and penalties, meaning more tries and tackles. World Rugby approved.”
Rugby X London. Behind the Scenes with USA Rugby
Walter Keeler: Treasures of the Everyday
Walter Keeler is a British studio potter, born in London in 1942. He attended Harrow School of Art, London where he was trained by Michael Casson. He established his first pottery at Bledlow Bridge, Buckinghamshire in 1965 then moved to his current studio in Penallt Wales, where he lives with his potter wife Madoline. He was professor of Ceramics at the University of the West of England and in 2007 was named Welsh Artist of the Year.
Keeler makes salt glaze pottery influenced by early Staffordshire Creamware. Writer Oliver Watson described him as 'one of the most important and influential potters of the 1980s'. Keeler's work is held in a number of public collections including Victoria & Albert Museum, National Museum Wales, American Craft Museum, New York, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, USA and the Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo. http://www.goldmarkart.com See more films like this at http://www.WeLoveClay.com
Walter Keeler: Treasures of the Everyday
Documentary film about UK potter | GOLDMARK
Photos by Jay Goldmark
USA at Rugby world Cup 2015
Behind the Scenes Documentary
USA at Rugby World Cup 2015
Documentary film telling the story of the USA national rugby team on tour at Rugby World Cup 2015 with behind the scenes footage of the team at work and play.
Jonny Lewis edited each episode in the series using behind the scenes footage filmed by USA Media Manager Matt McCarthy who also runs RugbyWrapUp.com . Jonny also shot part of the footage from the USA v South match. An Atlas production for USA Rugby.
This feature length documentary is a combination of the series of short films first shown over a number of weeks during 2015 Rugby World Cup on the USA Rugby YouTube channel and website USArugby.org
Watch the full length documentary below or watch the original 7 episode series that went out during Rugby World Cup 2015 here.
The Schoolgirl the Nazis and the Purple Triangles
Simone Arnold is an ordinary schoolgirl. Spirited. Stubborn. Then the Nazis march in, demanding conformity. Friends become enemies. Teachers spout Nazi propaganda. Simone's family refuse to heil Hitler as Germany's saviour. They are Jehovah's Witnesses, and reject Nazi racism and violence. Simone has a choice to make. Follow the Nazis and live or follow her conscience and the consequences. JonnyLewisFilms.com
STREAM ON AMAZON PRIME video or through Apple TV app.
The Schoolgirl The Nazis and The Purple Triangles
Watch on Amazon Prime Video
PRIME VIDEO USA amazon.com/dp/B07GDTDGBP
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APPLE TV APP https://tv.apple.com/gb/movie/the-schoolgirl-the-nazis-and-the-purple-triangles/umc.cmc.3lyrb9mt2iuh12huo7kdjk5r1
Also available on DVD
Also available at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Award Winning untold story of World War 2, looking at the Nazi persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses as seen through the eyes of a schoolgirl. Jehovah's Witnesses were among the first prisoners of concentration camps for their refusal to say "Heil Hitler", join the army, or participate in the Nazi way of life.
Based on the book "Facing The Lion" - Memoirs of a Girl in Nazi Europe by Simone Arnold Liebster
***Ffresh Film Doc Award 2013 Winner ***
*** Ffresh Works Film Award Winner***
Directed by Royal Television Society award winning filmmaker Jonny Lewis and Aiden Bloodworth.
“The investigation of the story was thorough and compelling and I was left wanting to find out more on the subject. The management of the archive material was intriguing and the edit flowed beautifully. The sound design and music were also well managed with considered intelligence.”
The Ballymurphy Massacre.
Award winning documentary
The Ballymurphy Massacre
Awarded 'Best Student Documentary' by the Royal Television Society 2012.
(21 mins)
Royal Television Society Award Winning Documentary
The first ever film on the Ballymurphy Massacre. Subsequently a Channel Channel 4 (UK) feature was produced making national headlines.
Royal Television Society Award Winning film. The Ballymurphy Massacre
Between the 9th and 11th of August 1971 eleven people were killed by the British Army's Parachute regiment. All eleven were unarmed civilians. One of the dead was a parish priest another was a mother of eight. The Royal Military Police were assigned as sole investigators. Not one member of the British army was held to account. It is believed that had justice been administered and those held to account charged, the events of Bloody Sunday in Derry would not have happened.. These events have remained hidden from public knowledge and focus for over 40 years, until now!
facebook.com/BallymurphyMassacreFilm
A film by Sean Reynolds, Kyle Gibbon and Jonny Lewis
News on the Ballymurphy Massacre was recently featured on www.theguardian.com
Royal Television Society Award Winning Documentary 2012
FFresh Best Documentary 2013
NAHEMI Best in Festival 2013
Bristol Radical Film Festival, Official Selection 2013
British Shorts Film Festival, Berlin. Official Selection 2013
Live and Let Dai. David Watkins. A Life In Rugby
David Watkins takes us from his earliest rugby days in rugby union with Newport, Wales and the British and Irish Lions to his decision to move north to rugby league with Salford, a decision that resulted in him being shunned by the rugby union community. The Only player to ever captain the British and Irish Lions in Rugby Union and Great Britain in Rugby League. A canny, darting fly-half from the mining community of Blaina in north Gwent, Watkins used his sport to expand his horizons and make his name known and respected worldwide. Film by Jonny Lewis, Chris Potter and Neil Cairns. Ffresh Film Award 2013 Nominated.
Paws 2 Remember
Story of a Director of a pet funeral home.
“An endearing documentary with humour and irony writ large. The portrait of the central character was well handled and the subject matter intriguing. The film was shot and edited well and underpinned by the inventive use of pre-recorded music.”