Ben Rivers makes 16 mm films that balance notions of the document with an eerie other-worldliness. The British countryside–and its curious inhabitants–are his most common subject. Their uniqueness and the specificity with which his techniques articulate them forges a profound intimacy, like sneaking into some elven circle or peering at the world from inside a tree.

Hermetic, eccentric and seemingly ancient, the stories and their tellers feel obscured beneath moss and fog. This is vital, joyful, human film-making.