Short Summary
My name's Harvey Marcus and I'm a Leeds United fan and independent documentary filmmaker - there you have it. I was there when we thought Kevin Hird had kept us up in 1982 and when Strachan scored the winner against Leicester in 1990 and we all thought we'd been promoted. When Bielsa left I wrote a poem in his honour - available on request. Like all Leeds fans I'm obsessed with the 1975 European Cup Final, and how we were robbed of what was rightfully ours.
I've scoured YouTube for clips of the match and they're a rarity. For years, it felt as though it was the final UEFA tried to forget - for all kinds of reasons. But Leeds fans have never let them and the rest of football forget, singing 'We Are The Champions, Champions Of Europe' at every match, week after week, year after year.
Next year marks the 50th anniversary of the most infamous European Cup Final in football history. There have been TV shows and interviews transmitted before about Bayern Munich versus Leeds United, May 28, 1975, but none have captured exactly why that final means so much to Leeds fans and why we refuse to forget. That's what makes PARIS 75 so special.
I wouldn't be making this documentary if I hadn't met Roy Schofield, a Leeds United supporter who hasn't missed a game - home or away, including friendlies - for more than 50 years. Hidden away in a room heaving with shirts, photographs and memorabilia, was a box full of old cine-film, stored away for almost 50 years. This rare and incredible footage was filmed by Roy over the course of two seasons - from 1973 to 1975 - as he and his friends travelled across Europe watching Leeds; seeing them cheated out of the Cup Winner's Cup in Salonika to that fateful night in Paris. They are an incredible document of an era in football before the money came rolling in and the fans who made the game became less important than commercial deals and data analysis. It's an era when fans rarely travelled abroad, when they were allowed to film training sessions, when female supporters were a rarity and bell-bottom jeans ruled.
I'll be forever grateful to Roy for taking those films in the first place and sharing them with me. It's Roy's films that form the heart of PARIS 75, allowing me to tell the story of Leeds United's road to Paris like it's never been told before. The documentary will also include interviews with the Leeds legends who played that night, rare TV footage sourced from UK, France and Germany, as well as additional fan cine-film contributions, but it's Roy's footage that lies at the heart of the film. PARIS 75 is ultimately a story of that final by the fans for the fans. A story for now and for future generations.
Of course, pulling all those elements together is an ambitious and costly task - taking in licensing fees, interview and image rights, production costs, post-production cost and everything else involved in making a documentary to cinema standard. Which is why, in this development stage, I'm hoping you can help with this first round of funding.
What We Need & What You Get
PARIS 75 is an ambition project both from a personal and financial point of view. On previous work, I've operated alone - shooting and interviewing - but with a production of this scale I need a little assistance. The aim is to kickstart the project by raising £15,000 to get production rolling, secure license agreements, secure interviews, locations, music rights and all the other bits and pieces that go into making a film.
This film is about Leeds fans (and football fans, in general), I wanted to devise a way of encouraging your involvement. Please take a look at the 'WACCOE Video Wall' in perks, and the others available. Every penny contributed will make a massive difference to the success of project.
YOUR SUPPORT WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE...
My experience tells me that without the support of the fans this film will remain unmade - documentaries that aren't deemed 'sexy' or 'on trend' by traditional broadcasters rarely receive backing. And documentaries that don't feature celebrities front and centre barely get a look in - although I should say I'm incredibly grateful for Game Of Throne's actor and Leeds fanatic Nicolaj Coster-Waldau's kind offer to narrate and support the documentary at such an early stage. What a star!
But it's your involvement and funding that will make PARIS 75 a reality and a film everyone will be able to see and remember.
The majority of the documentaries I've made have been possible because of the support of smaller funders who believe in a project as much as I do. You can see more of my work at www.bruisefilm.com but the majority of these films have been a labour of love with sheer grit and stupidity pulling me through, but, most importantly, also the support of those who shared the belief that these films mattered, the people whose stories I tell deserve to be told and that the film needed to be made.
Risks & Challenges
Depending on the funding I am able to raise will dictate the documentary I am able to produce. But I can promise you PARIS 75 will be made, and will be ready to mark the 50th anniversary on the May 28th, 2025. With your help I'll be able to make the documentary the occasion deserves, a swell as a film Leeds fans, and the legends who played in that game, deserve.
Other Ways You Can Help
Over the course of the next few months, there will be new initiatives designed to raise funding including PARIS 75 merchandise and special events.
Meanwhile, if you can use this and other social to spread the word I'll be forever grateful.
Thank you reading. Please drop me a line at info@bruisefilm.com with any questions, ideas or, even, cine-film! Hope to see your videos soon.
For further info see: https://www.bruisefilm.com/paris-75-the-documen...
All the best. We Are Going Up. Harvey