The 79th Edinburgh International Film Festival wrapped on Wednesday night with Bel, the first feature-length documentary from acclaimed television director Louise Lockwood.
The work tells the story of Kenyan-Scottish singer-songwriter Beldina Odenyo, but you could just as easily call it a vessel through which Lockwood and her creative team allow Beldina (or ‘Bel’) to tell her story herself.
‘I love music. I love everything to do with music. I want to be a musician. I want to be famous. I want to just show the world my skills and just…rock their socks off.’
We are first introduced to that story through a candid and likeable address to camera, with a teenage Bel ardently confessing to her dream of being a star. From that opening, which stands as a fantastic MO for the rest of the piece, we flash forward to 2021, as Bel steps into the true limelight for the first time, performing on-stage at Usher Hall.
That performance was set to put her on the map as ‘the most important thing to come out of Scotland’. Two weeks later, a cold, unvoiced inter-title tells us, she took her own life.
“When I first saw some of the footage of Bel not long after she died, even just selfie performance footage, I was utterly blown away by it,” said Lockwood. “I was incredibly moved in regard to what an utter tragedy it was that that human and talent was no longer here, but knew that she should have been massive.”
That sense of grandiosity and scale – of Bel dreaming big and wanting to really reach people – pushed Lockwood to break from her traditional form and give this particular story the breathing space and spectacle that a feature documentary can offer. “When you know that it’s gonna be on a big screen, it completely sucks you in – she completely sucks you in. Bel. […] Whether it’s a really low-res bit of phone footage or some beautiful, high-end, 4K Venice shot that we’ve got mixed in there – it doesn’t matter.”
Lockwood brings us along on the journey, but it’s Bel’s sister, Leah, who we spend most time with, as she delves into a wealth of material left behind in the musician’s will. Diaries, journals and tapes help us to understand Bel’s process and get a sense of her headspace, too. “Don’t read them unless you’re prepared for what lies within,” she warns in her will, before slyly scolding us for “being so nosy”.
“Wherever possible, we wanted to let her, Bel, speak for herself. So I’m not actually sure how many hours [of footage] we have,” said Lockwood. “She left a significant archive behind,” added producer, Sarah Howitt.
“They’re her words,” continued Lockwood, “they’re bits of her life that were relevant to whichever song she was writing at the time but also, you know, a few key interviews that she did. […] Wherever possible, we’d always revert to “What’s Bel’s view on that? How does Bel feel about this?” so whichever bit of her life [we were covering], we would favour her explaining in whatever form we had that allowed us to do that.”
That commitment to letting Bel (who performed under the stage name Heir of the Cursed) take the lead, even in a posthumous documentary, lends rewarding credence to the narrative. Though we’re given insights from those who knew her best, her story remains her own, even as Leah strives to release Bel’s back catalogue of music (hidden until now on a hard drive marked Passable Demos) to the world as a double album.
Given the additional scope of a feature, Lockwood also allows us enough time to appreciate Bel’s music for ourselves. A lesser film would perhaps take an emotional investment as a given or look to embellish every single musical sequence with montages or moody establishing shots, but Bel as a film crucially understands its star’s status as someone whose story ended before she really reached fame.
As such, it dedicates some time to establish a connection between us as the audience and the music itself, with two songs playing out quite matter-of-factly in their refreshing entirety.
“After she died, that piece of footage, actually […] that’s the thing I first saw,” continued the director. “I certainly didn’t edit it while I was watching it, you know. I didn’t cut away or look out the window, I was engrossed. Absolutely engrossed.”
Lockwood doesn’t look to rob us of our own moment there, instead encouraging us to stop, think and just focus on what’s in front of us rather than pulling our attention away.
Perhaps it might not have worked as well as I can imagine in my head, but I would have enjoyed a similar focus on the film’s later songs, as well, though that dedication would almost certainly come with a longer runtime. I just found the result quite impressive, and I don’t know that I would feel the bloat if each song in the ten or so on show here was allowed its time to feel even more distinct.
Bel’s mercurial capacity to inspire and entertain is clear to see, not just from accounts and anecdotes but the palpable sense of a continued presence that lingers through the film. Its true emotional impact will vary from person to person, I’m sure, but nobody viewer will be able to deny that Bel herself looms large here. Howitt describes her as ‘a deeply complex human being who happened to have an incredible talent’.
“I think like Leah says at some point in the film, it seemed she didn’t just want it to all sit on a hard drive, sit on phone files, sit on a computer,” mused Lockwood.
“You can get a lot from Bel. She’s in all our hearts now – I talk to her a lot, you know? I think she was a really incredible, inspiring, insanely talented (and troubled) but also utterly beautiful person and it’s nice to have people like that in your life.“
This film has an age rating of 15.
Bel premiered at the EIFF. It tours the UK cinemas in September and October before a BBC release later in the year.
- Filmhouse Edinburgh | 4th-11th September | tickets here
- Glasgow Film Theatre | 10th-17th September | tickets on sale today
- Dundee Contemporary Arts | 18th, 20th, 21stand 23rd September
- Macroberts Arts Centre, Stirling | 23rd September
- Eden Court, Inverness | 5th-7th September
- Cromarty Community Cinema | 20th September
- Sea Change Film Festival | 18th and 20th September on Isle of Seil & Isle of Tiree
The producers also announced that Cargo Sales & Releasing, known for their work with independent, often cutting-edge titles, has been engaged as the international sales agent for Bel.
David Piperni, Cargo Film & Releasing said: “Sometimes a film comes along that knocks your socks off. Beldina’s story is powerful on multiple levels and in director Louise Lockwood’s hands, her story will touch audiences around the world.”
