Apostrophe S is a trilogy of films by Philip Sanderson and Steven Ball made between 1987 - 1990. A follow up piece Called Film of The Same Name was completed in 2017. The project was shot in north Kent on Higham Marshes and Blue Bell Hill and explores 'geopsychological' issues around landscape - in particular Hangway Turning is based on the urban legend of repeated ghost sightings made on Bluebell Hill, Kent, following the death of a bride-to-be in a road accident in March 1964.
The project began with a short pilot called Apostrophe S - A Postcard From Boxley Hill made from Super 8 Loops projected onto a wall and then videod. The soundtrack was recorded by Sanderson & Ball at IPS Studios in London with the voice-over by Diana Gordon.
Funding was secured from South East Arts to make Green on The Horizon. This was shot on Cliffe Marshes in Kent and features Angela Staples. The piece was shot on Super 8 and then edited on Umatic video.
Following Ball's departure to Australia Sanderson completed the next part of the trilogy Hangway Turning with Nigel Jacklin (of Alien Brains fame) taking on the role of psychic investigator Thomas Cubiit and Angela Staples playing the 'ghost'.
Twenty years plus later Sanderson & Ball decided to revisit the location and ideas behind the Apostrophe S trilogy in The Film of The Same Name. For Film of the Same Name the Cubitt character was re-presented by BFI archivist William Fowler while the ghost by jeweler Leigh Milsom. Directors Sanderson and Ball portray themselves as the now middle-aged experimental filmmakers – maybe older and wiser but having some difficulty in remembering where the original scenes were shot.
Green on the Horizon and Hangway Turning have been screened at over thirty venues including: Tate, ICA, Osnabruck, Piccadilly Film Festival. Green on The Horizon has been added to the BFI archive and is available on the BFI player, and was most recently shown at the BFI/NFT in November 2022.
