A British actor who has worked extensively in television, theater, film, and radio, Caroline Catz is also an accomplished film director and writer. Catz’s films include “A Message to the World,” a documentary portrait of under-appreciated music legend Jesse Hector of The Hammersmith Gorillas, and “Tapestry Goes West,” a short documentary about Cornish Cowboys living in a Wild West town in rural Cornwall and what happened when a UK club promoter staged a music festival there one summer.
“Delia Derbyshire: The Myths and the Legendary Tapes” is screening at the 2021 SXSW Film Festival, which is taking place online March 16-20.
W&H: Describe the film for us in your own words.
CC: “Delia Derbyshire: The Myths and Legendary Tapes” explores the life, work, and legacy of the British electronic sound pioneer Delia Derbyshire, who realized the “Doctor Who” theme tune in 1962, and explores the idea that this extraordinary composer lived outside of time and space as other people experience it.
The film conjures a psychedelic mix of archival materials, interviews, and dramatizations. It honors the BBC Radiophonic Workshops arranger-composer’s own questing spirit. This is a life story told through sound using both Delia’s compositions alongside a soundtrack constructed from samples chosen by myself and musician Cosey Fanni Tutti from Delia’s lost attic tapes discovered after her death, and explores the fantasy of a collaboration, an exchange of ideas across eras between Delia Derbyshire and Cosey Fanni Tutti.
W&H: What drew you to this story?
CC: I grew up with “Doctor Who” and was haunted by the sound of the theme tune but never knew of about the fascinating female composer who created it. It had a very powerful effect on me, I was more terrified listening to the theme music than I was watching the TV show. I used to feel like I was listening to the sound of the universe expanding or the whole world collapsing or something! I wasn’t alone in this – most kids I knew felt the same way, taking refuge behind the sofa as soon as the program started. So I’ve always been intrigued about why we all had the same response. There must have been something very powerful within the fabric of the music that affected us at a subconscious level.
Delia was responsible for one of the most recognizable British sci-fi theme tunes, and although her work was played in the majority of British homes, she never became a household name. When 267 tapes were discovered in Delia’s attic after her death and were donated to Manchester University, I just had to go and visit the archive. It is from listening to Delia’s lost attic tapes that the idea for a film began to emerge as it dawned on me that at the core of Delia’s creativity was the idea of her sounds being the manifestation of invisible and unknowable things.
Listening to Delia Derbyshire’s music felt like an invitation to enter into the worlds that she created with her unique sound. I made the film from the perspective of wanting to understand Delia and from a deep curiosity about her — a relationship began to develop as she entered my imagination. It’s been a really powerful experience to spend time in the company of someone whose spirit was so strong that she continues to inspire, even after her death.
W&H: What do you want people to think about after they watch the film?
CC: I want them to come away feeling that they have learned about the unique genius of Delia Derbyshire, and understand more about how she created these incredibly complex tapestries of sound using tape manipulation and a razor blade, cutting and splicing together magnetic tape note by note — a very labor intensive process that produced music that sounded effortless. This is not the story of a public figure or a rebellious electronic composer. Rather, it is the story of a woman deeply interested in the sound of the world around her.
W&H: What was the biggest challenge in making the film?
CC: We were very lucky to get our funding, but our budget was modest! We found inventive ways to overcome some of the budgetary constraints. Andy Starke is a brilliant producer and helped me navigate the obstacles ensuring we never compromised or let go of our vision, and I was blessed with brilliant collaborators: production designer Felicity Hickson, cinematographer Nick Gillespie, and our brilliant actors. So although it was a challenge, I had wonderful people to collaborate with and they helped me keep my ideas on track. We were a good team.
Time was the biggest challenge we faced and not a second was wasted!
W&H: How did you get your film funded? Share some insights into how you got the film made.
CC: After a long while looking for people to fund this project, I approached Andy Starke from Rook Films and Anti-Worlds. We made a short film first to try some of the ideas out, and that played at the BFI London Film Festival 2018. It was after we had made that short film that we approached the BBC with the idea of a long form film.
Our funding came from BBC Arena. The BBC seemed its natural home as a great deal of Delia’s music was made whilst she was working at the BBC Radiophonic workshop.
W&H: What inspired you to become a filmmaker?
CC: I found an old Super 8 camera left in a cupboard in a flat that I lived in in my early 20s. I became a bit obsessed with it and whenever I could get my hands on any Super 8 film I’d shoot whatever I could, and made a kind of diary in film over a couple of years, splicing together the film on a splicing block and building the story.
I enrolled in courses in video editing and joined a filmmakers co-op for a while. When I started out as an actor I just knew I wanted to make films as well — scripts and storytelling are what I’m drawn to. It was just a case of waiting for the right projects to come along.
W&H: What’s the best and worst advice you’ve received?
CC: The best advice I’ve ever had is always try an idea out. Don’t talk about it. Do it.
I’m not good at remembering bad advice — I tend to block it out. Bad advice usually comes from people you should avoid anyway.
W&H: What advice do you have for other women directors?
CC: Don’t let anybody put you off, trust your unique perspective, and work with people who will support you. Trust your instincts. The film will be as good as the people you choose to work with.
W&H: Name your favorite woman-directed film and why.
CC: “Wanda” by Barbara Loden. It’s a beautifully sensitive film with unique vision. Loden wrote, directed, and starred in the film. It’s a very personal film and is beautifully observed. Wanda breaks your heart even though she hardly speaks but you know everything she’s feeling. She finds herself on a quest to find a better life. Her hope and determination is what is so touching in spite of finding herself increasingly powerless. She still finds hope and joy in small things. It’s bleak but very beautiful to watch, and Loden’s performance is mesmerizing.
W&H: How are you adjusting to life during the COVID-19 pandemic? Are you keeping creative, and if so, how?
CC: We finished shooting our film just before the UK went into lockdown. I edited the film with our brilliant editor, Luke Clayton Thompson all through lockdown 1. We worked remotely for the majority of the edit, and had three weeks in a room together at the end.
It was an incredibly productive time, and I was amazed at how well it worked to screen share over Skype and use Facetime on our phones so we could see each other and communicate as best as possible. We only got let down by WiFi once, amazingly, but it really made me realize how resourceful you can be when you have no other choice.
I have a new project in the works so that’s very exciting. There’s plenty to do!
W&H: The film industry has a long history of underrepresenting people of color onscreen and behind the scenes and reinforcing — and creating — negative stereotypes. What actions do you think need to be taken to make Hollywood and/or the doc world more inclusive?
CC: We need to go beyond surface-level engagement when it comes to systematic racism in the film and television industries. It’s easy to make it appear that change is happening because a few key projects are being promoted. This can disguise the fact that the culture of racism still hasn’t really changed for the majority of people. We need more diverse stories and writers of color getting commissions.
