Tall Tales and Wonder Rooms

Selected for The Arts Institute Film Commission 2021, the premiere of Tall Tales and Wonder Rooms will be introduced by winning filmmaker Mohini Chandra. Working closely with the film archive at The Box Plymouth, Chandra has created a beautiful piece delving into the tales and hidden histories of Plymouth’s waters and the city’s links to the wider world.

“Tall Tales and Wonder Rooms began with a curiosity about shipwrecks and the world of amateur sea divers, the stories they tell, the ‘treasures’ brought up from local wrecks and the collections that have been created. These ‘Wonder Rooms’ represent a singular passion for shipwrecks and collecting, reminding us that Plymouth and the South West of the UK is a vast archaeological site, with material evidence that links our locality irrefutably, to the rest of the world.” Mohini Chandra

Alongside Mohini, this film screening had an additional introduction from Mallory Haas, Director of The SHIPS Project CIC– a Plymouth based non-profit organisation that undertakes research and exploration of maritime historical sites and events, both on land and underwater. The SHIPS Project helped Mohini Chandra with the research for this project.

“The Ships Project are in close dialogue with local divers, and they are a rich source of vernacular collecting histories. For me, these stories and collecting activities represent a particular and very personal relationship between the city and its maritime history, as well as, through the global nature of collected ‘exotic’ artefacts, the wider world.” Mohini Chandra

This film was made possible through The Arts Institute Film Commission 2021 supported by The Box, Plymouth and The Arts Institute, University of Plymouth.

• https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/news/the-arts...
• https://www.mohinichandra.com/about-tall...
• https://www.artexplora.org/en/mobile-mus...