Redcurrent Films | film & digital video production | participatory projects | cultural exchanges | education

SOME PAST PROJECTS

	EU4U! YOUR VOICE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE! Shot in London and Brussels with a group of young people from East London, who received training and work-experience as a professional film-crew, this film was commissioned by Jean Lambert MEP to provoke discussion on social exclusion and the links between people's immediate environment and their quality of life.
	AZAN: A CALL TO PRAYER Fazaila is a Shia-Muslim teenager from East London whose mum thinks she's becoming "too English". This new short documentary, a first-film by 19 year-old Heena Bukhari, is a personal exploration into being female and Muslim in Britain today by looking at the life of Heena's younger cousin.
	JOURNEYS ACROSS MY CITY: BUENOS AIRES Invited to Argentina by Fundacion KINE to run a cultural and skills exchange project, we took 8 young people from Newham in East London to work with young people living on the outskirts of Buenos Aires. During an intense two-week project, two films were made and screened at the 1st South American film festival for young people living in cultural diversity. The project was funded by the British Council. The films have subsequently been screened at film festivals all around the world.
	BLUE VENTURES Climate change has recently resulted in severe coral bleaching events in Madagascar and represents the single greatest natural threat to coral reef systems. Richard Scrase travelled there to make a film about the efforts of Blue Ventures, an NGO dedicated to marine conservation, in working with local people to find solutions to the problems they face. Blue Ventures website
	THE SEAFRONT A meditative portrait of a forgotten slice of British life at the seaside. Steve, seaching for his fortune with a metal detector says there is more gold in the sea than on land. Penpa, who originally came to the UK from Tibet was surprised to find that the sea was so salty. Tim, who is 67, swims in the sea every day but never puts his head under. Directed by Anton Califano, this 22min documentary was shot by Mark Raeburn of Redcurrent Films.
	COMEDY ALOUD: TWO IDIOTS AND A BRAINWAVE & FLIGHT OF THE BUMBLEBEE Part-funded by the First Lights Studio Award, we supervised two participatory film projects with young people from Newham VI College and Lister & Eastlea Community Schools. Theatre director Jack Milner ran scripting workshops with the younger paricipants and directed the films, while Redcurrent Films trained and supported the older students in their roles in the film crew, as well as supervising and organising the filming and post-production processes. The films were presented by the Arts Council of England at their annual conference as an example of "good practice".
	SPACES BETWEEN The South Bank Centre commissioned a series of dance projects to take place onsite during the refurbishment of the Royal Festival Hall. CandoCo Dance Company, NewVIc and RFH collaborated on each of them and Redcurrent Films were commissioned to work with the companies and the young people involved to produce video work as a record of the period. We have produced two films to date.
	THE ONION BAR A short experimental film on b/w 16mm made with ParaActive Theatre Co. The film consists of a series of dark vignettes from ParaActive's theatre piece based on the writings of Gunter Grass.
	KEEPING IT REAL A 50mins documentary which looks at the career options open to young people who want to work in the arts. Featuring interviews with a wide range of practitioners with successful careers in film, theatre, music, radio and dance, the film was made by young people from East London who were trained in professional working practices whilst on production. Newham Council subsequently commissioned us to produce an education pack for schools and colleges to accompany the DVD.
	DADDY Teenagers from the Whitehawk estate in Brighton acted alongside experienced actors in this short film written and directed by Tim Edwards. Produced by Betty Mae Prod's and shot by Mark of Redcurrent Films.
	HOME A dance-for-camera film, combined with documentary footage, which tells the sometimes traumatic stories of some of the participants, some of whom fled war situations at home and came to the UK as refugees. Produced by Primal Pictures, the film was shot on 16mm by Mark of Redcurrent Films and has been screened at film festivals all around the world.