Simon Beaufoy is the Oscar-winning screenwriter for Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, which will be officially released on March 9th in the States. As someone who had never partaken of fly fishing prior to his involvement in the film, Beaufoy has some very interesting thoughts about fly fishing in this article.
“Before I started I thought fishing was kind of a stupid sport. It never really attracted me… They have all this gear and they stand there and do nothing. But I thought I better go fly fishing because that’s what the book is sort of about and I need to understand where this strange meditative sense comes from in the Sheik and his fishing. I was absolutely hopeless at it but I could completely see how it becomes incredibly addictive and incredibly calming. I understood that this is a metaphor for peace and calm and harmony and tolerance and sort of being at one with nature,” he says.
Beaufoy says the experience of the movie now even has him taking his kids fly fishing with him, that is when he has a break between projects which is rare since his Slumdog Oscar win.
This just goes to show that fly fishing can have very broad appeal, and that a film about fly fishing can make a positive impact– it’s great that Mr Beaufoy has gotten his kids involved in fly fishing as well.
Hopefully they’ll get a chance to see Olive on the big screen one day.
