2013 Autumn film season

A series of 3 films at the Kirkgate Centre, Shipley.

South of the Border

Sunday September 15th 7pm

Around 30 people showed up for our first film of the autumn film series - South of the Border. The film was followed by a live Skype link to Ernesto Teran and Paul Dobson in Venezuela, who answered questions from the audience on living in Venezuela - schools, electricity shortages, the relationship with the USA... The link wasn't as clear as we'd hoped but we'll work on improving it for next time. Lots of positive feedback from the audience on linking directly to Venezuela. Click here for transcript.

Growing Change

Sunday October 13th 7pm

An inspiring documentary that looks at one of the most exciting experiments in the world to grow a fair and sustainable food system. In Venezuela, from fishing villages to cocoa plantations to urban gardens, a growing social movement is showing what's possible when communities, not corporations, start to take control of food.

We again had a few technical difficulties, but the sound was much clearer and the discussion with Bernardo Loaiza, Mérida was really informative. Click here for the full transcript.

Tocar y Luchar (To Play and to Fight)

Sunday November 10th 7pm

At last the Skype link worked properly - full sound and video with only the occasional cut out which lasted a few seconds. And what a treat! 3 organisers/teachers from the El Sistema nucleus in Merida, and 2 of their pupils - playing violin and bells. Transcript coming soon.

The film To Play and To Fight, presents the captivating story of the Venezuelan Youth Orchestra (El Sistema) - an incredible network of hundreds of orchestras formed within most of Venezuela's towns and villages. Once a modest programme designed to expose rural children to the wonders of music, the system has become one of the most important and beautiful music phenomena in modern history. To Play and To Fight presents interviews and performances by many of the world's most renowned musicians including the great tenor Placido Domingo, Claudio Abbado, Sir Simon Rattle, Guiseppe Sinopoli, and Eduardo Mata, as they reflect on the impact of such a far-reaching social project. The documentary also presents the inspirational stories of world class musicians who have been trained by the Venezuelan system, including The Berlin Philharmonic's youngest player Edicson Ruiz and world class conductor Gustavo Dudamel.