Short Film - Punk Rock Birdwatching with Richard Foster

Punk Rock Birdwatching - Readings on Location - with Richard Foster

Join Richard Foster on an amble through the Netherlands as he brings to life a selection of short stories from his collection The Punk Rock Birdwatching Club, published on 14 February 2025.

Filmed across a series of Dutch locations: Leiden, Noordwijkerhout, Noordwijk, Amsterdam, and Katzwijm Studios in Voorhout.

📚 Stories featured in the video include:

00:16 – Robbie Williams is Hot Right Now

4:53 – The Heron

7:34 – Gezellig

10:55 – 40 Minutes or Thereabouts

12:29 – A Slip In Time Saves Nine

The film features photographs of Leiden and the Bollenstreek taken in 2000 and 2025, courtesy of Damian Leslie, Marcel van Schooten, and Richard Foster himself.

🎥 Credits

• Filmed, compiled and edited by Damian Leslie

• Sound recorded by Marcel van Schooten

• All artwork and texts © Richard Foster

Order a copy of the book from ortacpress.com/shop or from your local bookshop.

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'A charming, caustic book ... the subtly and experience of Foster’s pen means that what appears on its surface as an autofictive middle-aged bildungsroman runs far deeper, tapping into the murkiness of societal and individual psychology that examines how things both seemingly change and forever stay the same.'

Louder Than War

 'Through his stories, Richard Foster has the rare talent of casting the world anew. Under his eye, nothing is safe; the mundane becomes magical, the magical mundane. A collection to delight and destabilise.'

Ali Millar, author of The Last Days and Ava, Anna, Ada

'A magnificent collection. Like a bouquet of condolence flowers for the casualties of late capitalism, Foster's stories brilliantly capture the alienation and gratification of hard graft in the 21st century with total authenticity and total sensitivity. Taking us on pushbike dérives around the lowlands or chasing the next fleeting high with a motley cast of wreckheads, these are some of the most entertaining, elegant stories I've read about the various ways people struggle and strive to make work work for them.'

Richard Milward, author of Man-Eating Typewriter

'Richard Foster brengt een specifieke tijd en plaats – de door Britse outcasts bevolkte bollenstreek rond de millenniumwisseling – tot leven in een vernuftig spel met (autobiografische) herinnering. Het is alsof hij de video van deze onwaarschijnlijke bakermat van de Zuid-Hollandse underground naar believen terugspoelt, pauzeert, en vertraagt. Op zoek naar het moment dat alles voorgoed anders werd.'

Leonor Jonker

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Tarot Card from The Punk Rock Birdwatching Club by Richard Foster