WILDLIFE corner

An award-winning garden wildlife documentary made by a father and daughter team in their back garden has now scooped international film awards in countries from India and Turkey to Sweden.

Dad Dean and his 22-year-old daughter Rebecca Sills made the films during lockdown starring the wildlife in their backyard in Bolton upon Dearne, near Rotherham. Dean, 53, says: “It all began when a family of squirrels started visiting our garden each day and we filmed them every day.

“We then turned the footage into a short film called The Wild Garden and submitted it into film festivals. To our surprise it won four international awards.”

The pair, who get on brilliantly as a father and daughter team, have a huge passion for wildlife. Finding the silver lining in the dark clouds of the pandemic, Dean says: “Covid actually helped us to do something special by turning a negative situation into a positive one. As first-time wildlife filmmakers we were so excited. “This led to us making a follow-up film called A Winter’s Tale, which we filmed in January in the snow.

“It featured long-tailed tits, robins and other garden birds.” Now the pair are seeking BAFTA success and have already been on the media circuit including doing an interview on Sky News.

“It’s crazy because all this started due to Covid,” says Dean.

And there’s more to come. Dean adds: “This summer we filmed our third film called Pond Life, with underwater cameras in our fish pond, and it will be released after Christmas.”

That’s the film – not the pond stars…

A Winter’s Tale broadcasts next Tuesday at 19.50 on Freeview and Virgin TV, and view it online at https://youtu.be/hp9nsat_nn4

AWARD WINNERS Dean and Rebecca