George Eliot meets drill music in film

THE words of Victorian author George Eliot have been married with drill music in a project “breathing new life” into Coventry as this year’s City of Culture.

Local producer Coolie, 31, has created a soundtrack to a film titled Timeless Words Made New that takes inspiration from Eliot, the pen name of Middlemarch writer Mary Ann Evans, who lived in the city.

Coolie said the Coventry drill scene had more in common with Eliot, who lived between 1819 and 1880, than might first appear, because they both had the odds “stacked” against them.

The film, which marks the start of Coventry’s year as City of Culture, takes viewers on a journey around the city led by Coolie.

Famous local figures including Hollywood composer Clint Mansell and The Specials’ Horace Panter read the words of Eliot as they are projected onto landmarks in the city.