During Rupert Brooke’s moonlit burial on a Greek island in 1915 composer F. S. Kelly starts to write a musical Elegy for his friend. The piece of music ‘comes home’ to the grave on Skyros over a century after both men’s lives were cut short in the Great War.
To watch this, and all other films of our 2026 selection for FREE online, just send us a blank e-mail to register@history-filmfestival.com and automatically receive this year’s code. Availible from 1st to 7th of October 2026. For more details see Take Part.
Director Biography – Dan Frodsham
Dan Frodsham is an independent documentary-maker with a background in journalism and television. Over the last fifteen years he has made a series of films about the churches of Cyprus and their wall paintings with Prof. Michael J.K. Walsh.
Michael J K Walsh is Professor of Cultural Studies and Digital Humanities at Nanyang Technological University Singapore. This is his second film with Dan Frodsham on music and the First World War, the first being “Return to No Man’s Land”, which featured the music of Eric Bogle. See: Social Links Below
Director Statement
In April 1915 poet Rupert Brooke died and was buried in an olive grove on the Greek island of Skyros. His friend, and fellow naval officer, F. S. Kelly wrote that during the midnight funeral ‘my feelings began to express themselves musically.’ This film is about the piece of music he wrote for his friend before his own violent death a year later. Elegy is a story of friendship and loss – but also the longevity and resilience of art. The return of the music to Skyros in 2025 is a homage to those young men and their distant ideals.
| Dan Frodsham Director, Writer In the Village of Poets, Return to No Man’s Land, Prayers Long Silent Michael J.K. Walsh Producer, Writer In the Village of Poets, Return to No Man’s Land |
