My previous film was about how fear inhibits and paralyses social cohesion in South Africa.  I was drawn to Mexico and the area along its northern frontier. Was it possible that people there could transcend their fears when living under such extremes of violence and murder? The asylum I found in the desert offered striking and very uninhibited examples of people dealing with their fears, misfortunes and nightmares. It was a very different type of gated community and what had been described as an abstraction in the previous film was now a real experience writ large that I could document.  Dead when I got here is not so much a progression from the last film as an encounter with the nightmares alluded to previously.

I’ve been making films independently and teaching film practice for over 20 years. I’ve won awards at festivals and been nominated at IDFA for the film Until When You Die. In 2010, my last film about fear in South Africa, Forest of Crocodiles was broadcast in over 100 countries on BBC World, with additional sales to Portugal, New Zealand, Sweden, The Netherlands, Spain, South Africa and New Zealand. For further information and more work see The Deep River.

Having spent ten years working in sound post-production as an editor and dubbing mixer in a wide range of areas including feature films, TV and advertising, Alex is now also a sound recordist, having studied at the UK’s National Film and Television School.

Alex edited sound on Mark Aitken’s previous film, Forest of Crocodiles (2010).

John studied film on the B.A Media & Communications and MA Film making at Goldsmiths University, London.  Graduating in 2012 he has quickly established himself as a sound recordist in the UK.