…continued. An interesting film was about the Bristol Cycle Project. They take old or unused bikes and make them available to people in the community. So many bikes are just in storage in people’s garages, this project gets them back into use. In their workshop they rebuild or service the bikes with the assistance of the people who will benefit from them. They help people to help themselves, involvement with the project and commitment of time and effort means they value the bikes and can contribute something. Asylum seekers are particularly finding the project helpful. There is much misunderstanding about asylum seekers, and the film told some terrible personal stories of refugees from Somalia and Afghanistan. A bike gives freedom and independence, and so becomes a physical metaphor for what these refugees long for.
Freetown is the capital and largest city in Sierra Leone and, over 200 years after the abolition of slavery, the people living in poverty here still see themselves as slaves. The question has to be asked, are these people really free? In a film made up of entirely of people voicing their thoughts and feelings, it became clear that that are still captives to the rich and powerful, both inside and outside their country and to a system which allows it. The women were particularly vocal in expressing how their voices need to be heard. Ironically, one of the streets in Freetown is called Wilberforce Street!
A very colourful and energetic film followed showing a Latin American carnival in Nottingham. What came through very strongly was the importance of the arts for culture and community. We neglect the arts at our peril, for they help to define people’s culture, identity and freedom.
The final film I watched was about Alice Hawkins, a woman who lived most of her life in Leicester. She was a factory worker who became a suffragette and champion for women’s rights. Alice’s story is an inspiring one, and there is a website set up by her family to honour her memory and work.
It was a great festival and plans are in hand for the DocFilm Festival in 2012, but over 3 days instead of 1!
Filed under: Arts, Interests, Leicester, Leisure, Movies, Society Tagged: afghanistan, alice-hawkins, asylum-seekers, box-office, bristol, carnivals, commitment, communities, creativity, culture, cycling, diversity, documentaries, festivals, freedom, freetown, garages, independence, latin-america, life, metaphors, nottingham, phoenix-square, projects, refugees, sierra-leone, slavery, somalia, suffragettes, uk, womens-rights, workshops
