Le Chameau’s walk on the wild side

Created by London agency Calling, and directed by Maria Lax through Art Practice, this gorgeous film for Le Chameau is a treat for the eyes and ears as it follows a couple who abandon their phone screens to step outside and connect with each other and their environments. 

As they amble through an old city, across a beach and through woods and meadows, scenes are set in the low, intimate light of dawn or dusk, or the flickering colours of a fairground at night. 

Along with Yeats honeyed words – "Though I am old with wandering, through hollow lands and hilly lands, I will find out where she has gone, And kiss her lips and take her hands," – the film is enhanced by sumptuous sound design – the soft susserance of wind in trees and grasses, distant church bells, a fluttering flock of birds and waves fizzing on sand.

Calling ECD Josh Tenser commented: “There’s been a rising interest in British folklore and this inspired the story and the choice of the poem. Folklore is storytelling that’s rooted in a physical location. It’s about a connection to a place and to each other. It doesn’t surprise me people are becoming drawn to this in our digitally saturated, overly convenient world. The power of nature and the way it connects us at a deeper level is the perfect riposte.”

The Finnish director Maria’s Lax adds: “The Irish poet WB Yeats has been a big influence on my personal work, and stars really seemed to align here in many ways. This film is a love story not only between our two protagonists, but also between humans and nature.”