The World Turned Upside Down

Set in the present time the story is narrated by a historical figure, Gerrard Winstanley, an important writer and figure head for the Diggers movement. The story ghosts a past struggle against the enclosure of common land through a series of flashbacks. The film explores how our relationship to land and ownership has not changed since the Diggers claim that England is a 'common treasury for all' The film begins in London as two squatters, Sam and Cath are evicted from their home. Now homeless, they travel to the country to stay with friends, Michael and Jane, who are living on a farm, searching for the 'goodlife'. However the farm is not the tranquil idle they seek. Trouble is brewing and the locals are trying to evict a traveller band that is camped out on the farm. The farmer Michael is caught between his liberal beliefs, the local's prejudices and his relationship with Josh, the traveller's leader. Through a series of flashbacks the struggle of the Diggers in 17th Century England parallels the story, and echo's of a battle fought long ago on this same land begin to creep into the tale. Illustrated by Winstanley's prose, the film questions our relationship to the land as inevitably, peoples true feelings begin to rise to the surface leading to a tragic final conflict.