Old Indians Never Die is a once-a-decade rally of beautiful old Indian motorbikes.
They stopped building them over fifty years ago so all the machines are museum pieces.
Last year the rally came to Scotland where Alan Forbes (front man with the Rezillos) hosted the event. Alan rebuilds Indians. He has a fabulous collection, all of which he rides even though they’re irreplaceable.
We were commissioned to make a documentary of the event. It was around 400 people in tents in a field in the Scottish borders, the average age of the bikers must have been over fifty and the machines don’t go that fast and half the time won’t start, so nothing really happened.
So this is the film of nothing much happening.
It’s the opposite of a modern Channel 4 documentary where the constant jeopardy is breathtaking and the panicky voice-over constantly reminds us of how dire the situation is and what is likely to happen if nothing changes between now and the ad break.
This was a bit more like real life and the people were so delightful and cranky and opinionated, and the love for the machines was so abundant that we had a really delightful experience. Plus the bikes really do look and sound fabulous.

See stills from the project in Related Content.

Order full-length DVD by emailing bertie@watermill-london.com
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