Music / bristol film
Bristol music scene comes to the big screen
Bristol’s grassroots venues are the setting and the city’s musicians provide the soundtrack for a new film that tells a true tale of addiction and the healing power of music.
Surviving Earth was written and directed by Thea Gajic, the daughter of wild harmonica player Vlad who struggled with drugs and trauma and whose spirit soared with the music he made.
Fleeing the conflict in his native Yugoslavia, he landed in Bristol over 20 years ago where he formed a Balkan music band, Fuzia, with Bristol Drugs Project (BDP) colleagues.
Those colleagues, along with fellow musicians from Bristol’s Eastern Europe and folk music scenes, have recreated Fuzia’s music for the film.
Live gigs were filmed at the Jam Jar and Thekla, and sone of the music was recorded at J and J studio.
Barney Rhythm and Sophie Wilsdon worked with Vlad at BDP and also performed with him in Fuzia and Troyka. They worked closely on the film and played on the soundtrack along with other musicians who also played with Vlad, Justin Fellows and Henry Edmonds of Aellin.
Troyka bandmates Liam O’Connell and Naomi Hill along with Bristol compadres, drummer Matt Brown and Scottish band leader John Langan, played on the soundtrack.
Acclaimed harmonica player Will Pound and cellist Meg Ella also took part.
Wilsdon now leads the BDP’s Creative Communities project which was sparked initially by the positive impact music making had on Vlad and others affected by drugs.
As well as recording the music for the film, Troyka (l-r Barney, Naomi, Liam, Justin, Sophie) had to teach the actors how to convincingly mime with their instruments – photo: Sophie Wilsdon
“What [lead actor] Slavko, and the film… brilliantly portray is the passion and drive that music and creativity can inspire in someone in the shadow of trauma,” she said.
“In the film, Vlad lives out his dreams of playing music from his homeland with his friends, pushing them to take bigger financial and personal risks to achieve it. Music brought and bound the friends together, tumbling through gigs and parties, fall outs and reunions.
“As in real life, music also created situations where risk of relapse was present – working in a night time economy and culture which is infused with alcohol and drugs. Many musicians come into recovery unsure if they can or want to carry on playing music when it has represented and had links to drink and drug use.
“It’s in this context that we created Bristol Recovery Orchestra in 2019”.
The film’s nuanced approach works to “help shine a light on the complexities, beauty and pain that lie behind every drug related death,” she added.
A preview of Surviving Earth screens at the Watershed on April 9, followed by a Q&A with director Thea Gajic: watershed.co.uk/whatson/13841/preview-surviving-earth
The film then screens at Watershed from April 24-30.
Main image: Metis Films
Read next:
- Review: Eliza Carthy, Bristol Beacon – ‘A feast in the best folk tradition’
- Bristol’s month in Folk and Roots – April 2026
- Bristol’s month in World Music – April 2026
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