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Home from the Hill 15 rating

Acclaimed British documentarian Molly Dineen’s much-loved debut follows the repatriation to England of retired Lieutenant-Colonel Hilary Hook after fifty years living in the Kenya Hills.

Documentary 1986 40 mins

Director: Molly Dineen

CC

Overview

Hook certainly embodies the old colonial stereotype, with attitudes that range from absurd to offensive. But with the subtlety of approach that would become her hallmark, Dineen manages to elicit underlying qualities in her subject that invites the audience to look beyond the ‘larger than life’ persona he exudes. We witness a man completely out of synch with modern life, having been living the privileged life of an expat in Kenya for so long, as he has to adapt to a small flat in Wiltshire bereft of servants and shotguns.

Dineen’s National Film School graduation piece, Home from the Hill brought her instant recognition and her first broadcast credit. It was snapped up for the BBC2 Forty Minutes slot and went on to win awards including a Royal Television Society Prize and a BAFTA nomination.

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