Introduction
Welcome to the CRT Films of Action Project
The idea for this pilot filmmaking project, was the belief that the coalfield communities have a plethora of positive and inspiring stories to tell that go way beyond their coalmining heritage.
The Covid-19 pandemic brought with it an opportunity to shine a spotlight on the coalfield communities and demonstrate how resilient they are, and how able they are to find solutions to their own challenges and quickly self-organise to support residents who are vulnerable or in need. It was also an opportunity to capture evidence of the impact lockdown has had on lonely, disabled and elderly people trapped in their own homes and to find out from them also what the contact via local committees – such as befriending phone calls, food parcels and deliveries – had on them.
The negative descriptors and statistics attached to these villages and towns by policy makers and others who neither live in nor understand the challenges that these communities face – they are often referred to as “deprived” and “poor”. It is indeed true that there are high levels of no/low educational attainment, poor health, unemployment, crime, and neglected buildings and greenspaces, but the perception of others and the statistics rarely reveal the strengths and the potential that these communities have – strong community spirit, proudness, comradeship, rich histories often untold and beautiful natural assets e.g. countryside parks, woodlands, lochs.
Here you can explore a range of films made by individuals, community organisations, and filmmaker Anne Milne and curator Shona Thomson. When it is safe to do so, we hope to be able to present the films on the big screen in local community cinemas through the support of Regional Screen Scotland and the Folk Film Gathering and its funders Screen Scotland.
All the films have captions available, either within the film or can be selected as an option when watching in YouTube. When watching the film here, click on the YouTube logo in the bottom righthand corner to watch the film on YouTube. Then click the CC logo at the bottom righthand corner of the screen to switch on captions.
The project team thank everyone who took the time to share their stories of life in lockdown. We hope you enjoy these inspirational stories told by those delivering services during lockdown and those on the receiving end of those lifelines.
The Films of Action Project Team:
Caron Hughes, Development Manager, Coalfields Regeneration Trust
Angela Davis, Community Engagement Officer, Coalfields Regeneration Trust
Shona Thomson, Curator/Producer - www.akindofseeing.co.uk
Anne Milne, Filmmaker & Educator - www.annemilne.com