Tuesday 10 February 2015 A documentary capturing the excitement and drama as Edwina Sorkin (OG63) and LGHS parent Kate Sleath attempted to drive from the UK to Beijing will be premiered in March. The exclusive screening of The Beijing Biddies by Cumbria TV will be held at the Rheged Centre in Cumbria on March 27 ahead of its entry at international film festivals around the world, including the Cannes Film Festival. The 80-minute documentary tracks Edwina (née Wolfe), aged 69 and Kate (64), as they complete their 8,000-mile challenge in only 29 driving days to raise money for Cancer Research UK and Macmillan Cancer Support. The two-man film crew from Cumbria TV, the documentary’s director Gary Robinson and cameraman Andy Gardner, followed the women on every step of their journey through Holland, Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Russia, Siberia and Mongolia into China. Gary said: “It was an amazing achievement and we have captured all of it on film – the highs and the lows. Driving the same route behind the ladies, while filming them via in-car HD cameras and handheld HD DSLR cameras, provided quite a challenge. “We have tried to retain the fly-on-the wall feel of the trip as well as capturing the fantastic scenery along the way. It is a great story with something for everyone.” The documentary shows the women’s adventure from Cumbria to Beijing in a seven-year-old Nissan Pathfinder and includes frustrating delays at border controls; their struggle to change a tyre on a desolate road; and the need for emergency car repairs in Mongolia when a forecourt attendant fills their tank with unleaded petrol instead of diesel. The film also shows highlights like their arrival in Moscow in time for the annual Victory Day parade in Red Square; plus visits to a Buddhist temple for a blessing, an oncology unit in Russia and the National Cancer Centre for Mongolia; as well as the hospitality they received from people they met along the way. Edwina, who now lives in Newbiggin-on-Lune, in Cumbria, said: “It’s fantastic to be able to re-live our trip on film. It brings back the thrills and spills of it all for us and will give people a real insight into just what a huge undertaking it was.” Kate, from Wetherby in West Yorkshire, whose daughter Jenny left LGHS in 2001, said: “There are bits that we can look back and laugh at now, like the diesel mix-up, but at the time it was very stressful because we couldn’t afford any delays on the journey. It’s hard to believe that we actually did it, but it’s all there on film.” The Cumbria TV crew and the Beijing Biddies are pictured back (L-R): Andy Gardner and Gary Robinson; front (L-R): Kate Sleath and Edwina Sorkin. Alumni News
