Farmer, Filmmaker, Maverick. Meet Charles Carson, the star of the latest Strange Frames screening: A Life on the Farm. 

Welcome to the strange and singular world of Charles Carson — also known as Somerset. Back in the 1990s, Carson, a sheep farmer, began creating a meticulous and wildly imaginative series of VHS tapes and photographic artworks. Made for friends and neighbours (and often simply for his own amusement) these home-made films transformed everyday rural life into something surreal, playful and deeply personal. 

After Carson’s death, his work lay forgotten until filmmaker Oscar Harding inherited an extraordinary videotape. 

From this discovery, Harding pieces together a portrait of a disappearing way of life and an unforgettable eccentric who harnessed emerging technology as a tool for boundless creativity. By turns bizarre, life-affirming and laugh-out-loud funny, this is a found-footage discovery not to be missed. 

Hosted and curated by Strange Frames, in partnership with Independent Visions. Special thanks to Bulldog Films. Strange Frames is a monthly film club that celebrates the offbeat, grotesque and arcane, examines the unexpectedly transgressive and revels in the strange frames of cinema. Exploring the 20th century’s most important storytelling medium through the lens of history, folklore and legend.