One of the speakers at last weekend’s #dist2010 was Christoph Warrack.
Of all the guest speakers I met, I’d have to say he spoke directly to the artist in me.
Independent filmmaking is a hustle at the best of times, you have to be brilliant to succeed, you have to impress, involve yourself and have enormous gumption to create. But what if you were homeless, vulnerable, disenfranchised, ignored?
Started by filmmaker Christoph from a soup kitchen in London’s West End, Open Cinema is an organisation that brings film to the homeless and the homeless to film. It also brings filmmakers to a place where they can grow their opportunities and expand the depth of their work. Because the homeless & disenfranchised of our streets are, perhaps surprisingly, very film literate. And film is the great equalizer, speaking to our shared humanity no matter what walk of life we are from.
Through a UK network of community cinema projects socially excluded people are able to view classic and contemporary film, programmed by them, for them, but also be brought together with professional filmmakers to create & exhibit their own work. For filmmakers it provides a platform to become involved in the world they represent, to tackle social issues and confront basic humanity to find and uncover the beauty there. For the street hustlers it gives them an opportunity to relax, connect communally and gives them a voice with which to express themselves, to bridge the social gap between them and the rest of society.
Cultural outreach of this nature helps communities understand and come together with those on the edges of their daily grind, to dispel the myths and fear of the social misfit and to bring human connection with those who often feel discarded by a society that they are part of yet often estranged from, Making ordinary people both aware, and less afraid, of those on the edges of their world is part of that. And in the films they create the homeless and socially excluded find they have a lot to say that speaks to our common hearts.
Open Cinema is currently piloting a network of 16 venues in four regions of England. From July 2010, the service will be rolled out to further interested social sector organisations. For more information contact them on info@opencinema.net
