BBC Reel History comes to Falmouth for two days.

awen productions to work with BBC Learning to run archive film workshops in Falmouth.

Come and get your Hands on History!  For the past 4 weeks The Reel History of Britain has followed Melvyn Bragg as he meets people all around the country as they recount fascinating and surprising stories about how life in Britain used to be – told through archive film collections.

Each episode saw Melvyn visit a new location, in a mobile cinema, and focused on a different aspect of British life. The programme highlighted the enormous social changes that took place from 1900 onwards, building to a compelling social history of Britain.

Falmouth Tall Ships 1967

To celebrate the climax of the series the BBC is holding a Reel History event at the Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society in Falmouth. There will be great activities for all the family to try including watching archive films of the area, making your own moving images and sharing your memories of Cornwall on our memory wall.

On the Friday there will be a display of artefacts from the Bill Douglas Centre in Exeter, whose inspirational collection charts the history of the moving image.

There’ll be loads of local archive footage to watch, and best of all the whole event is FREE!

So come along and join us and discover more a bout your local history though film.

BBC Reel History

Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society 24 Church Street, Falmouth, Cornwall, TR11 3EG

Friday 7th October and Saturday 8th October 2011

10am to 5pm

www.bbc.co.uk/history

http://thetreproject.wordpress.com/

Make a Film in a Day Workshop Launched

Ever wanted to make a short film?

Using the latest equipment this workshop gives young people the basics to get out there and make films – from storyboarding to editing. It will be an action-packed day using creativity and technical skills that will give participants the knowledge and the confidence to make their own films.

This workshop is for 13 – 22 year olds and there is a maximum of 15 spaces available. The cost of this day-long workshop is £5. To book a place, please complete the form on the Cornwall Film Festival website http://cornwallfilmfestival.com/, you will then recieve an email to confirm your place.

The brief is to make a film in a day. The film must include archive film. What’s archive film? Well, its old cine footage of Cornwall from the 1930′s – 1980′s.

Date: Friday 4 November 2011

Location: Lower level of the Truro College Open Learning Centre adjacent to the Lighthouse Cinema in Newquay

Address: Open Learning Centre: The Old Chapel, Chapel Hill, Newquay, TR7 1ND.

Time: 9.30am – 4pm

Watch some archive films here http://vimeo.com/thetreproject

This workshop is supported by Truro College.

Screenings great success!

Thanks to everyone who came to our screenings over the weekend.  We had 82 people in Newlyn and 70 in Stithians…

and to top it all we received this by Denis Nightingale.

Thanks for last night – it was excellent.  heres a poem inspired by the evening.

A night watching old films of Cornwall

Flicker of ancient film as the watchers remember
Harvests plump with endless sun,
Fishing on the smoothest of smooth seas,
A lobster pot catching art
As well as restaurant dinner.
Long line of bare boys’ knees
Fishing for crabs, caught by the camera
In the short flush of youth. Steaming
Over the Royal Albert Bridge
Into a land of black and white buses
Long skirts, hats, quick unnatural movements,
Motorcycles and pasties with tea;
Men riding deep into the earth, crammed
Like captured sardines, the puff of arsenic
Into barely guarded faces. White mountains,
White clay, golden memories for those
Leaning forward in their chairs,
Arthritis creaking, young again for a moment
Recalling the heaving of hay, the day
When the films were the present not the past,
When they were young, carefree, when
They didn’t realise youth doesn’t last.

 

You can look at some pictures of the evening on our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/#!/AwenProductions

New Screenings at Newlyn Arts Festival & Stithians Centre

West Cornwall based awen productions cic will be turning back time once again with their  Tre Project – Rediscovering Cornwall and Isles of Scilly through Archive Film where rare archive films of the area will be given a contemporary twist.

As part of Newlyn Arts Festival : Newlyn Art Gallery on Friday 23^rd September. Doors open at 6.30pm.  Entry : Donations

As part of Carn to Cove : Stithians Centre on Saturday 24^th September at 6.45pm.

Entry: £7 adult, £6 concessions children free with a paying adult

Cornish Nets © South West Film & TV Archive

Barbara Santi, Director of awen productions, explained “Tre is a Cornish word for home/homestead.  We’re really excited about these events where we will be bringing out some rare gems from South West Film and TV Archive’s vaults.

In Newlyn we’ll be showing films with a focus on West Cornwall’s fishing heritage.  One of these films is ‘Cornish Nets’ – a very special 1930’s black and white silent movie which doesn’t usually get the opportunity to be shown to the public.  It’s beautifully atmospheric following the story of Cornish fishing villages in the Penzance bay area where, as the film caption says, ‘for generations the people have turned to the sea as a means of gaining a livelihood’. ”

For one night only ‘Cornish Nets’ will have its very own musical score as duo John Thomson & Martin Bowie will be performing live their unique blend of evocative post-impressionistic music to accompany the film.

Other films in the programme includes Clive Gunnell’s visit to Newlyn in the late 1970’s in ‘Walking Westward’ when the Quay was still being extended and a new short film called ‘From the Dell to the Ocean’ which uses a Penberth family’s personal Super 8 film archive from the 1960’s of lobster pot making and sustainable fishing methods in the cove.

From the Dell to the Ocean - a short film by Joseph Chapple & Barbara Santi

At Stithians Centre which is part of Carn to Cove’s Autumn season, the programme includes a 1979 Westward report on ‘Hot Rocks’ the disused granite quarry at Stithians and 1978 footage of Stithians Show.  Rare 1930’s/1940’s archive will also be shown featuring the river Fal, farming, mining and Cornish Trades and Industries such as butter making and thatching. The evening also has a special photographic display from the archive of the Stithians History Society.

At both events new locally made films using archive exploring the theme of ‘home’ will also be screened.

The project is made possible with funding of £36,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) and Feast which enables Tre to continue for 3 years.  Commenting on the HLF award, Head of South West Nerys Watts said: “We were delighted to be able to support awen productions with this project.  These screenings are just a few in a series to be held throughout Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly which will help to reconnect people to their history, heritage, identity and culture, making the past accessible to new generations of local people and visitors alike.”

Look out for other screenings across Cornwall including Royal Cornwall Museum in October and Cornwall Film Festival in November.

Please go to Events section for posters.

Archive films screening to celebrate innovative Cornish film company funding success

Sunday 10th July at 7.30pm The British Legion St. Just

West Cornwall based community interest media company, awen productions cic, will be celebrating their recent funding success with a free archive film screening and live music at this years Lafrowda Festival.

Following the huge success of awen’s pilot Tre Project – Rediscovering Cornwall and Isles of Scilly through Archive Film, the company has now secured funding to continue for three more years thanks to the Heritage Lottery Fund and Feast.

Barbara Santi, director of awen productions, explained “Tre is a Cornish word for home/homestead. Over the last 18 months we’ve been working with communities across Cornwall and Scilly using archive film to explore what its really like to live in the far West of the UK.  We’ve had 800 people participate during this time through coming to our events/screenings to participating in making films with us.  We’ve discovered so much amazing film archive, communities and their stories that we had to find a way to continue.  The next three years will reach new audiences with screenings and involve more people through celebrating in Cornwall’s rich screen heritage.”

With thanks to additional funding from Cornwall Community Foundation’s Active at 60 fund, the first of these events will take place this Sunday 10^th July at 7.30pm, The British Legion St. Just where specially selected film material dating as far back as the 1930’s will shine a light on West Cornwall’s unique past.

Barbara continues “There will be a particular focus on the St. Just and surrounding areas and things will include some rare South West Film & TV Archive’s 1930’s footage of ‘crying the neck’ on a farm at Towednack, haymaking, harvest, and ‘croust’.  There will also be some other lovely archive gems and the Premiere of some recently made Cornish short films.”

People of all ages are invited to the launch where they will be able to find out about awen’s plans and how the St. Just and surrounding areas can get involved.

And if that wasn’t enough music from accomplished accordion player Seamas Carey (The Busketeers and Kneehigh) will entertain people with his latest multi-media solo project “My Granny’s House”, a touching tale about his grandfather, painter Francis Hewlett who was head of painting at Falmouth Art School for 20 years. http://seamascareymusic.bandcamp.com/album/my-grannys-house

Suitable for all ages.  Free entry.

Mazey Day Screening

Saturday 25 June Mazey Day, Penzance Screening locally donated Super 8 material of Cornwall and Isles of Scilly.

Acorn Arts Centre Bar 10am – 5pm

Cornish wrestling in Canonstown in the 60′s, Padstow Obby Oss in the 70′s, snowy days on Scilly in the 50′s, demolition of power stacks in Hayle 1981, willow lobster pot making in Penberth in the 60′s are just some of the insights to living in the most westerly part of the UK.

Scillonian approaching Penzance

Bosigran – new short film uploaded

A new short film made Rosie Scambler has been uploaded.  It has lovely archive material from South West Film & TV Archive and a gorgeous track by Cornish band Sam Brookes Quartet.

Students at Penwith College were given a brief to make a short film about ‘home’ using archive film.  This is Rosie’s film.

Watch it on our Vimeo site: