Date: 11 December 2022
I thank UNA-Luton for inviting me to present our Film for Development (FFD) movement and its first project, which is a documentary film on Homelessness in Luton.
FFD is a film movement that aims to find local hidden filmmaking talents who have been isolated and need support to team up with others to express their talents and passions and bring about real social change. FFD also aims to function as an alternative film school where it will encourage, inspire, and train those who have never made films but would love to.
FFD is a kind of citizen journalism scheme, but much deeper; I would like to call it a citizen filmmaking scheme. The cameras will be active in every nook and cranny of Luton, to turn Luton into a town of filmmakers, to turn Luton into a well-informed town as a whole. We would like to give cameras into everyone's hands and encourage them to portray the world around them, to portray the truth.
"Truth is the only authority, nothing else, nobody else" is the core of the FFD movement that envisions a film culture in Luton for social transformation. Now, it is hard to find the truth. Humanity has been buried under lies, layers upon layers; hence one needs sharp intellectuality, a meditative heart, and deep intelligence to dig deep into the layers of lies to discover the truth. But the truth is dangerous indeed, dangerous to a society that has been living in fiction, in lies, sweet sugar-coated lies. Hence we see, on this very planet, Socrates poisoned, Jesus crucified, and Galileo go through torture in his old age for stating that the earth revolves around the sun. But FFD is not afraid to look for the truth behind social crises and share the findings with the world through the art of cinema.
So, FFD is continuing to work on homelessness despite many challenges. We would like to find out why homelessness is so prominent in Luton. If only the truth behind the crisis is known as it really is, as a society we will know what we can do to end this. If the truth hurts, let it be; if the truth suggests breaking the old systems, let it be. The systems are created to serve mankind, not the other way around. Homelessness in Luton is such a major issue that the town has the highest homelessness rate in the country outside of London. According to a study published at the end of 2021 by the charity Shelter, 1 in 66 people are classed as homeless in the town. And the figure didn’t include the people who are in hidden homelessness, those who are sleeping in cars, vans, or staying with family and friends (sofa surfing), living in unsuitable housing such as squats or sheds, and so on. Luton has the 12th highest waiting list for housing in the country outside London. In such a situation, all local leaders, charity bosses, and humanitarian individuals should come forward to help the project FFD has embarked on. Through this webinar, I am calling on individuals, agencies, and organizations across all sectors to support the FFD project on Homelessness with the heart of humanity.
Homelessness is just one of the FFD projects; we will work on many other social issues. We live in a strange world where some people die of obesity and some from starvation. It is an imbalanced world where we can spend billions of pounds to see people kicking footballs in the FIFA World Cup while, even this winter, many are sleeping on the streets. Can we still call it a fair, civilized world? FFD has no interest in demonizing any organization or individual; it is only interested in finding the truth. Its films will work as mirrors in which society will see its face – mirrors that are not covered by dust, nor intentionally tinted to obscure the truth.
So we are still calling on organizations and the people of Luton to assist with our projects by getting involved with our Film for Development Movement. My contact details are included in the program.
Thank you all for listening.