Category: Features

Southwark.TV Festival of Film & Local Media 2024_What Was On

organised by Community TV Trust with Elevated Minds CIC & Michelle Baharier FRSA

12-16 February 2024

for young + old alike … Southwark films & videos … celebrated 20 years of local people speaking out

FESTIVAL THEMES:  

YOUTH | MENTAL HEALTH | COMMUNITY | FILM & LOCAL MEDIA

Monday 12 Feb: 6-8pm LAUNCH Film “from Local to Social” [cert 12A, 2023] Q+A followed  VENUE: Peckhamplex cinema, 95A Rye Lane SE15 4ST.

Southwark from 2003

Tuesday 13 Feb: 11-2pm  ASPIRATION: 3 x 60mins* [recorded for podcast, see below] Three approaches to stimulating purpose and self belief in life, with Stephen Akinsanya, Rachel Duncan and others. These events were aimed especially at young people. Presented by Festival partner Elevated Minds CIC.

Tuesday 13 Feb: 12.30-2.30pm LARGACTYL SHUFFLE was led by Festival partner, Michelle Baharier FRSA who reflects on the housing and some of the famous who pass through. It came in a long tradition of Southwark Walks that for mental health sufferers symbolised their journey towards wellbeing and were social too. VENUE for the start: Theatre Peckham

Michelle Baharier muses on the Southwark she passes through

Tuesday 13 Feb: 3-5pm  Two creative interventions Taking Control with key life skills: first was Peer Mediation with Mel Bruce of Calm Mediation:

Peer mediators from Bacon’s College

This was followed by entrepreneur George Osei-Oppong Junior with a presentation on Financial Education. These represent two creative interventions in young lives.

Wed 14 Feb: 11.30-12.30pm “Why the change, be the change!”   Bias comes in many forms: how do we deal with it? Stephen Bourne, the local author of Black British History, joined Doreen Sinclair-McCollin and others. An Elevated Minds event.

Stephen Bourne, British Black History author

Wed 14 Feb:  2pm-3.30pm  Community & f/Faith* [event recorded for podcast]  “In a multicultural society does belief have a role?” A round table discussion with some of Southwark’s leading thinkers was recorded for podcasting. Guests included former Mayor Althea Smith, current local top cop DCS Adjei-Addoh, legendary community activist Eileen Conn (Peckham Vision), two young people from Elevated Minds, retired judge Marcia Levy, former director of Bede House Nick Dunne, and long serving local police officer Nsikan Etuk from Southwark’s Faith & Engagement team.

Thurs 15 Feb:  10-11.30am  Short films for Year 4-6  A mixed bag of funny and challenging films made by young people over the years from 2003.

Films from young and old
Mystery and conflict resolution

Thurs 15 Feb: 2-4pm  Mental Health Forum*    Organised by long time campaigner for Mental Health rights, Michelle Baharier FRSA with guests Dolly Sen and Kym Winstanley. Michelle hung her work at the venue, Theatre Peckham for the Festival and a further three weeks afterwards.

Michelle’s presentation led off
Sue Elsegood
campaigner Baroness Jane Campbell
From Bonkersfest to Theatre Peckham
Kym talks and sings at Theatre Peckham (audio only)

Thurs 15 Feb: 4-6pm  Violence & Mental Health*  With special guest Jonathan Asser about whose therapeutic theory of Shame linking to Violence a film was made in 2013. Asser worked with inmates for 10 years at HMP Wandsworth with positive results but the work was stopped. With Asser on the Q+A panel after a screening of the film were former SVI group member Tola Gisanrin, co-founder and Head of Authenticity at Black Elephant, a social network based on vulnerability, and Andrew Nielsen of Howard League for Penal Reform.

Intro – Screening of SVI film – Discussion/Q+A

Friday 16 Feb: 6-9pm  SOUTHWARK’S GOT TALENT 2024 Closing the Festival week with style and decibels was a talent show for local people with serious aspirations in the performing arts. Event organised by Elevated Minds CIC.

Song, roller skate and hoola hoop

All events were free.

Community TV Trust in partnership with

ELEVATED MINDS CIC

and Michelle Baharier FRSA

EMILY WILDING DAVISON

In the second half of 2021 we produced a film about a sculpture project created in Epsom, Surrey. It was to commemorate the suffragette famous for having died under the hooves of the King’s horse in the 1913 Epsom Derby. This was not the full story of a brave and committed campaigner who played a role in changing British society. The sculptor is Christine Charlesworth. Her work now sits in Epsom Town Centre and is greatly enjoyed.

 

“BELT, BRACES & DISABILITY 2”

A strong documentary telling the stories of three disabled adults and following on from their first film in 2010, “BELT, BRACES & DISABILITY 2” updates the lives of Dan, Rachel and Troy. Time has not been friendly to all of them but their resilience and character shines through.

Especially pleasing about this production was that Troy edited his section of the film and selected all the music tracks, and both Dan and Rachel produced their sections of the film.

MENders in Peckham

CTVT is producing short videos for Peckham Settlement, funders of community focused initiatives and organisations in Peckham SE15.

Here is a look at the ‘shed’ world of older men and their creativity, based in Peckham’s old library building. Meet “MENders”:

The venture is full of characters and character. Meet Francis, Dennis, Nico and others who express themselves in practical projects and amiable sharing all under the guidance of the vastly experienced Axel. Well done to Age UK Lewisham & Southwark who run the scheme. The ‘shed’ is oopen on Fridays and Saturdays at 122 Peckham Hill Street SE15.

This short film is the first of many more to come as Peckham Settlement aims to increase awareness of its desires to support local ventures with modest grants. This means Community TV Trust will be busy in production, publishing the video stories both here and on other websites.

Community Media Forum Europe

Community TV Trust is now an organisational member of CMFE and is participating in their first conference being held in Cyprus. A plenary session on Day One featured a panel on community media and the Arab Spring with speakers from Tunisia, Egypt, Libya (by Skype from Benghazi), Syria, Jordan. An inspiring discussion with examples of citizen journalism and social media that left one examining what community media might be. Limitless appears to be one answer.

Day Two brought Cyprus itself to the fore, an island still divided into Greek and Turkish halves, though checkpoints are now open. Nonetheless local mainstream media apparently resorts to the rhetoric of division and of ‘them & us’. By contrast one media making project had brought together children from the two sides who jointly made short animation films with the help of translators and facilitators. The illustrations of process were heartening given the normal landscape of division we had had described.

Delegates have reported on projects from countries including Cyprus, South America, USA, Bosnia, France, Austria and UK; in addition to tales of the Arab Spring, stories embraced digital storytelling, animation, television operating outside regulation in Bolivia, DAB+ linking communities in West France, academic research proposing a bi-lingual radio station uniting Cyprus (albeit the issue of juggling two languages had not been resolved) …

CMFE currently has:   *90* members from *23 *European countries: *39* Individual Members and *51* Organizational Members, of which *25* are (National) Federations. Among its affiliate members it counts also individuals and organisations from Africa, Asia and North America.