I am beyond saddened to hear that my friend and former colleague Mark Saunders passed away suddenly on Saturday, 5 July 2025. I first encountered Mark indirectly, without meeting him, when I saw a screening of his film The Truth Lies In Rostock. The occasion was the 1998 INURA conference in Toronto, a network in which Mark continued to be involved, indeed travelling to its most recent conference in Tampere, Finland just a few weeks ago. Seeing that film back in 1998 left an impression on me, and when we then met in person a few years later through a mutual connection, I was surprised to find that we lived just a 5-minute walk from each other, at the edges of Battersea.  

In the years to follow Mark became a friend, but also a colleague. Until he left for other pursuits a few years ago, Mark taught practical filmmaking at Birkbeck, where I work as an academic. Most notably, he helped us build up a module we still have today titled Principles of Digital Video and Editing. As part of that, Mark was also closely involved in guiding the former Department of Film, Media and Cultural Studies’ first acquisition of audiovisual equipment for use by students. On the side, Mark and I (alongside students and other staff) often discussed projects he ran through his media company Spectacle, which embodied Mark’s constant orientation and deep commitment to community-led and participatory media – something which aligned well with Birkbeck’s mission as a university.

Next on the agenda for Mark and me were plans to meet up. Constantly deferred plans. We’d seen each other in early 2024 but otherwise had mainly been interacting through Duolingo. We both mused in email exchanges that this was an odd way for two people in the same city to stay in contact. Mark had wanted to share his plans for new collaborative research and perhaps participatory projects around Spectacle’s video archives. And I was eager to hear it, but also very busy at work. So I kept pushing back our meeting. And on Saturday, before I heard the news of Mark’s passing, I remembered again, and resolved that I really must get in touch.

Now I have to come to terms with the fact that I won’t be meeting up with Mark again. That I won’t again be able to hang out again with such a kind and thoughtful person, forever on the brink of making one of his frequent witty observations. This makes me so sad. But more than anything, I am sad for Ilga and Teo, his wife and son, to whom I send my deepest condolences.