From Yorkshire Dales to Hollywood Red Carpet: How Travelling Home Won Global Hearts and a Sony Future Filmmaker Award
Read Time:2 Minute, 26 Second
When North‑Yorkshire‑born director Juliet Klottrup boarded her flight to Los Angeles this month, she carried more than hand luggage—she carried the stories of a centuries‑old community. Her short Travelling Home documentary traced retired Romany farrier Joe Cannon Snr on his horse‑drawn journey to the legendary Appleby Horse Fair, and it has just clinched the Sony Future Filmmaker Award (Non‑Fiction), beating 11,750 other films from 158 countries.
Why Travelling Home Resonates
Filmed on intimate 8 mm and digital, the Travelling Home documentary lets Joe’s weather‑cracked hands, rhythmic hoofbeats, and candid reflections narrate a life lived between roadside verges and rolling fells. Klottrup’s lens dwells on the pride of shoeing a Clydesdale, the artistry of bow‑top wagons, and the tension of preserving Romany identity in a fast‑modernising Britain.
“Where I live the road connects North Yorkshire to Cumbria, and past my window Travellers make their way to Appleby Horse Fair,” Klottrup explains—a line that anchors her personal stake in the film.
Appleby Horse Fair: Living Culture, Not Tourist Spectacle
Appleby Horse Fair, Europe’s largest gathering of Gypsies and Travellers, drew about 10,000 Travellers and over 30,000 visitors from 5–11 June 2025, even in brisk Cumbrian winds.Horses clip‑clopped along the River Eden’s flashpoint “flashing lane,” while bow‑tops formed a kaleidoscope of colour on Fair Hill. Local councils tightened road‑safety rules this year—yet the Fair’s core ritual remains unchanged since 1685: trading horses, sealing friendships, and asserting a proud nomadic heritage before heading back out on Britain’s roads.
A Yorkshire Voice on a Global Stage
The Sony Future Filmmaker Awards, hosted at Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, champion rising voices across fiction, non‑fiction, animation, and student film. This year’s jury, headed by industry titan Elizabeth Gabler, praised Klottrup for “challenging the status quo and breathing new life into the stories we tell.” Winners receive Sony cinema‑grade gear and a mentoring week with studio executives—resources that can supercharge a filmmaker’s next project.
Juliet Klottrup’s Road Less Travelled
A 2016 University of Brighton graduate, Klottrup first began photographing Traveller life in 2019 after a chance meeting with Joe on the moors. Four years later, the Travelling Home documentary disproves the myth that you must leave rural roots to find compelling stories; instead, she brought Hollywood to the Dales. The film’s festival tour already includes BAFTA‑qualifying stops like the BFI London Film Festival, signalling strong award‑season momentum.
What’s Next?
With fresh accolades and Sony kit in hand, Klottrup plans to expand her Gypsy‑heritage archive and develop a feature‑length project spotlighting the evolving role of women in Traveller communities. For audiences, the takeaway is clear: keep an eye on streaming platforms and festival line‑ups, because Travelling Home is only the beginning of this storyteller’s ride.
Happy
0 %
Sad
0 %
Excited
0 %
Sleepy
0 %
Angry
0 %
Surprise
0 %
0
0
Average Rating