A TEESDALE community has had a sneak preview of a unique documentary which charts the life of a tenant hill-farming family as they try to breed the perfect sheep.

Two previews of the independent documentary, Addicted to Sheep, have been held, in Forest in Teesdale, in Upper Teesdale.

The film documents a year in the life of Tom and Kay Hutchinson and their three children as they farm a flock of pedigree Swaledale sheep.

It was produced by Magali Pettier, of Provenance Films, and Jan Cawood, of Tin Man Films, after £8,000 was raised through a successful crowd-funding campaign.

A £3,500 sum from Heart of Teesdale Landscape Partnership and the Heritage Lottery Fund also allowed Ms Pettier and Ms Cawood to work with editor, Matt Dennis, to develop the 62 hours of raw footage into the 85 minute documentary.

The team were then helped with the post-production phase by Teesside University’s DigitalCity, where Ms Pettier and Ms Cawood are both former fellows.

Ms Pettier said: “It has been incredibly hard work, but extremely rewarding to be able to finally show it in its completed form.

“We were delighted with the audience’s reactions, the comments were overwhelmingly positive and I am glad that I have been able to do justice to the challenging work undertaken by the Hutchinson family and other tenant farmers.”

Ms Pettier was given unrestricted access to the Hutchinson family and the film provides a unique portrait of family life, even down to the children unwrapping their presents on Christmas Day.

Mr Hutchinson, who attended the sneak preview with his family, said: “Allowing a film crew to share your family’s intimate moments can be quite daunting.

“However, we felt we could trust Magali to capture the essence of what drives farming families like ours to do what we do, particularly with her own experience of growing up on a small family farm in France.

“Seeing yourself projected onto a movie screen was quite a revelation, but we are all delighted with the finished product and feel it portrays our life and work in Upper Teesdale in a positive light, showing both the highs and lows of farming in the North Pennines.”

Heart of Teesdale Project Manager Alex Kaars Sijpesteijn said: “The film is wonderful. It is powerful yet subtle and a joy to watch.”

The film is now being entered into several international film festivals with the first sneak preview being planned for February to coincide with the Lunar Year of the Sheep.

For more information visit addictedtosheep.com