“Turned Towards the Sun,” a documentary about the extraordinary life of British writer and poet Michael ‘Micky’ Burn MC, is to be released on December 15th through MVD Entertainment Group.
Had Micky’s life story been written as a novel, readers would readily accept it as invented. Born in Mayfair in 1912, his father worked for the Royal family. He became the lover of the communist spy Guy Burgess, and would initially be taken in by Nazism, expressing an admiration for Hitler. In 1942, he took part in a daring commando assault on the fortified French port of St Nazaire, where he was captured, and he ended the war a POW in Colditz. He would latterly become a committed Marxist and be credited with saving the life of Audrey Hepburn.
American director Greg Olliver, who has previously documented the life of rock star Lemmy Kilmister of Motörhead, and blues legend Johnny Winter, started making this film in 2008, revisiting significant events and places in Burn’s life. Burn is presented here as a candid and witty raconteur, with a sharp mind and vivid recollections. He died in 2010, which leaves “Turned Towards the Sun” as a fitting eulogy to a remarkable figure.
“This film is about having one last chance to look back on a long, fulfilling life and Micky Burn has a story like no other”, says Olliver. “I met him through a chance encounter and was soon taken by the charm, intelligence and humour vividly on display in his storytelling and the resilience and compassion of his spirit evident in his tales. He was an old man living life quietly on the coast of Wales, but one with a personal history that wove and wound itself around the defining moments of the twentieth century. With surprising candor and zeal, he opened himself to the camera and its imagined audience; allowing us, now, a glimpse of his life remembered from what would become its twilight. “Turned Towards the Sun” is a portrait of an extraordinary man who lived through extraordinary times. In his story, we see our history and ourselves.”
“Turned Towards the Sun” had its world premiere at the BFI London Film Festival in 2012 where it was nominated for The Grierson – Best Documentary Award.
Pre-Order: http://bit.ly/1OQfXnZ
Amazon: http://amzn.to/1O2scwx
Available on DVD and Digital Formats Dec. 15th
