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Scotsman.com News - Entertainment - Film tribute for Scot who cycled to Arctic
HE WAS the original budget backpacker. More than 50 years ago a deaf factory worker called James Duthie cycled from his home near Fraserburgh on to the continent and up through Scandinavia to the Arctic Circle.
An £800,000 film project based on his life is set to go into production in the next year. Dummy Jim, which has been written and will be directed by the award-winning short film maker, Matt Hulse, is based partly on a journal written in 1951 by Duthie, called I Cycled Into The Arctic Circle.
He had originally intended to cycle to Morocco, but changed his mind in France. He then travelled north, through Holland, Denmark, Norway and Sweden where, at Jokkmokk, he crossed into the Arctic Circle.
He did admit to taking the odd lift, as well as ferries to cross sea channels, but he still cycled an estimated 3,000 miles in the three-month journey.
Hulse had been sent the book by his mother, who found it in a second-hand book shop on Iona, and in 2001 he travelled in Duthie's footsteps with the help of a £30,000 Creative Scotland Award from the Scottish Arts Council.
At the time, he said: "I've always loved tales of endeavour but, above all, I'm particularly impressed when extreme effort has been made not for profit, nor love, nor to win, but for no particular reason at all - simply because it could be done.
"James came across as such a determined and charming character who seemed to make lots of friends along the way. He would recount his experiences really quite matter-of-factly, but there were also quite a number of quirky moments. The whole thing really captured my imagination."
The film aims to capture Duthie's experience as a deaf person without speech.
It is being produced by Tishna Molla and the London production company, Tall Stories Ltd.
Duthie, from Cairnbulg, mastered Danish, Finnish, Norwegian and Swedish sign language with the help of pen-friends he met up with along the way. Although he briefly tasted a 1950s version of celebrity - from reports in the Buchan Observer to the national press - his fame did not last and he died in a traffic accident on a European tour 15 years after his epic journey.
A spokeswoman for Scottish Screen said it had made a "significant" offer of funding and expected the film to go into production in 2007-2008.
Jim Tough, chief executive of the Scottish Arts Council, said: "It is wonderful to see these projects reach fruition, demonstrating the exceptional artistic talent that exists in Scotland.
"I would like to congratulate Matt for his hard work and look forward to seeing the finished production."
HE WAS the original budget backpacker. More than 50 years ago a deaf factory worker called James Duthie cycled from his home near Fraserburgh on to the continent and up through Scandinavia to the Arctic Circle.
An £800,000 film project based on his life is set to go into production in the next year. Dummy Jim, which has been written and will be directed by the award-winning short film maker, Matt Hulse, is based partly on a journal written in 1951 by Duthie, called I Cycled Into The Arctic Circle.
He had originally intended to cycle to Morocco, but changed his mind in France. He then travelled north, through Holland, Denmark, Norway and Sweden where, at Jokkmokk, he crossed into the Arctic Circle.
He did admit to taking the odd lift, as well as ferries to cross sea channels, but he still cycled an estimated 3,000 miles in the three-month journey.
Hulse had been sent the book by his mother, who found it in a second-hand book shop on Iona, and in 2001 he travelled in Duthie's footsteps with the help of a £30,000 Creative Scotland Award from the Scottish Arts Council.
At the time, he said: "I've always loved tales of endeavour but, above all, I'm particularly impressed when extreme effort has been made not for profit, nor love, nor to win, but for no particular reason at all - simply because it could be done.
"James came across as such a determined and charming character who seemed to make lots of friends along the way. He would recount his experiences really quite matter-of-factly, but there were also quite a number of quirky moments. The whole thing really captured my imagination."
The film aims to capture Duthie's experience as a deaf person without speech.
It is being produced by Tishna Molla and the London production company, Tall Stories Ltd.
Duthie, from Cairnbulg, mastered Danish, Finnish, Norwegian and Swedish sign language with the help of pen-friends he met up with along the way. Although he briefly tasted a 1950s version of celebrity - from reports in the Buchan Observer to the national press - his fame did not last and he died in a traffic accident on a European tour 15 years after his epic journey.
A spokeswoman for Scottish Screen said it had made a "significant" offer of funding and expected the film to go into production in 2007-2008.
Jim Tough, chief executive of the Scottish Arts Council, said: "It is wonderful to see these projects reach fruition, demonstrating the exceptional artistic talent that exists in Scotland.
"I would like to congratulate Matt for his hard work and look forward to seeing the finished production."