A Private Function A Private Function A Private Function is a 1984 British comedy film starring Michael Palin and Maggie Smith. The film was predominantly filmed in Ilkley, Ben Rhydding, and Barnoldswick, in the West Riding of Yorkshire. The film was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1985 Cannes Film Festival. In a small Northern English town in 1947 the citizens endure continuing food rationing. Some local businessmen want to hold a party to celebrate the royal wedding of Princess Elizabeth to Prince Philip and illegally decide to raise a pig for that occasion. However, the pig gets stolen by
The Private Life of the Kingfisher submitted footage as an amateur contribution, but were commissioned by the BBC Natural History Unit to re-film it on a professional basis. The film proved so popular, that it was repeated eight times. It won the Silver Medal at the 1967 Moscow Film Festival. Boswall subsequently commissioned a full series of similar "Private Life of..." films. Rosemary Eastman wrote about making the film in her 1969 book, "The Kingfisher". In 2012, the Eastman's daughter, Liz Bayliss, was interviewed about the film, on the BBC's Countryfile. The Private Life of the Kingfisher The Private Life of the Kingfisher (styled in its