What Is He Doing Now?

Shot on video in Sheffield in 1983 under the title ‘Saturday Morning Post’, the piece was originally intended to be part of a planned series of ‘Tea Ceremony’ films by Bourn along with The End Of The World made the year before.

Re-titled and completed in 1988, the film’s finished version was on super 8 format with all of its video footage shown as one long sequence appearing on a TV within the film (complete with pulsing roll bars throughout).

The film is an oblique portrait of Bill, a photographer and friend of the director, and his Saturday morning ritual of making tea and opening the brown envelope delivered by the postman. Its theme is unemployment and the passage (or non-passage) of time.