Darwin's Footsteps was produced as a part of a UK wide initiative called Evolving Words (evolvingwords.org). Evolving Words is a poetry and performance project that was established to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin and to engage young people in these celebrations. Evolving Words main project took place in 6 UK cities and Glass Eye Films collaborated with poet Anita Govan, National Library of Scotland, City of Edinburgh Council, North Edinburgh Arts and young people from the Muirhouse area, representing Edinburgh. The projects main funder was the Wellcome Trust.

The Film Darwin's Footsteps was shot on Pennywell Road which Darwin used to access the nearby Crammond Beach. On these walks was were Darwin initially started to think and create ideas that would eventually lead to the development of his revolutionary theory of evolution. So in a way you could perceive it as the birth place of evolutionary theory. Today Pennywell Road is the central street of Muirhouse, a working class area in Edinburgh.

The film aims to build a portrait of the of area and its inhabitants (the participants) by using Darwin's walks and his theory of evolution as interconnecting concepts. Cinematic time is used to reference this and the fact that at least in contemporary times this process appears to have accelerated.

© Glass Eye Films, 2009
info: glasseyefilms@googlemail.com