The 70 minute House of Transformation documentary, filmed over six years, shows how the 2,500 acre estate -named in 2024 by National Geographic Traveller as one of the world’s coolest places to visit – has spent the last 30 years being transformed from a traditional English estate to ‘something exceptional.
The film follows Roger Tempest, custodian of Broughton Sanctuary, whose family has farmed land in the area since 1097. When he took over the estate aged 25 years old, it was heavily grazed, largely deforested and financially fragile.
In partnership with his wife, Paris, he has since transformed it into a rewilding project, enterprise park, retreat destination and restored Grade I listed hall. More than 330,000 trees have been planted, while beavers, Iron Age Pigs and Riggit Galloway cattle have been reintroduced, supporting the return of wildlife absent for generations.
Rather than making grand claims, the film documents what 35 years of patience, stewardship and long-term thinking can achieve. The screening was followed by an awards ceremony honouring 12 individuals whose work across ecology, leadership, healing and the arts reflects a shared commitment to restoring the project’s relationship with nature, ourselves and each other.
Mr Tempest said: “This land has been in my family for nearly 1,000 years. I took it on broken and I’ve spent most of my adult life in its service – not just replanting it, not just running retreats on it, but actually listening to what it needs. The film captures that honestly. And the Immersion is the next step: opening that process up so other people can feel what it’s like to be part of a place that’s coming back to life – and, in so doing, to find themselves returning to life too.”
The Broughton Immersion, launched at the BFI event, is a new series of between three and seven–night residential programmes, the first running from Thursday, August 20 to Sunday, August 23, with further dates to follow.
Immersion looks at the restoration of the land at Broughton – from returning woodland and cleaner waterways to the reappearance of species absent for decades – and how it is intrinsically linked to what can happen within us when we spend time in nature. As landscapes regenerate, guests are invited into a parallel process of renewal, reconnecting with a quieter sense of clarity, direction and belonging.
A House of Transformation will be shared more widely and available to view from June 14.