EdTalks with UKTV

geitf.com

#EdTalks was a lively and inspiring event held at the Overseas League on Thursday evening, where enthusiastic telly people came together to listen to four inspirational speakers, with proceeds going towards The Guardian Edinburgh International TV Festival's various talent schemes. The evening began with an hour of networking, where I was delighted to find myself mixing amongst a cocktail of many talents and experiences - from floor managers, to development researchers, from presenters, to office assistants, from festival organisers, to director/journalists. And that was before the event began!

Hosted by TV comedian Ben Miller we were treated to inspirational talks from future mayoral candidate Ivan Massow, enthusiastic space scientist Maggie Aderin-Pocock, controversial BBC3 presenter Stacey Dooley and TV inventor and family man Tom Lawton. There was also a great live freestyle performance from Soweto who took 5 words, 'women, galaxy, social, (points for the forth - I blame the wine) and EdTalks' and worked them into a rap/saxophone extravaganza.

twitter.com

Ivan talked about how he wanted to encourage diversity in the capital and bring economic and cultural diversity back into the centre. He says at the moment we are heading towards becoming like Geneva, with the elite owning the centre and the less well-off, inhabit the outer realms 'the doughnut' as he calls it. I'm all for bringing affordable housing back into London's centre just as long as he sticks by his other promise of protecting the green belt! Myself and my peers have all been pushed out to live in London's suburbs, feeling pushed out from the big city and it was nice to hear that someone at the top was recognising the need to change this! Ivan didn't shy away from the politically shadier moments of his past either, growing up in care, turning to alcoholism, being gay - things that politicians usually leave in the closet. Instead Ivan embraced it, made it part of his campaign and he championed the need to support entrepreneurship, innovation and ambition which, with the subjects that followed, could come in very handy for his vote count.

telegraph.co.uk

Next up was the absolutely wonderful Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock - probably one of the most energetic and genuinely funny women (I am a woman) I've ever heard speak. It was like coming home to the kitchen tap after a long holiday and turning the water back on - being faced with that un-hindered power as the air pockets are forced out. She was an absolute delight. Maggie tells us of how excited she is by science. She showed us a picture of a space we have only ever seen as black. Through image enhancement, she shares the reveal that in fact, there are hundreds/thousands of lights in that black space and each one of them is a galaxy in our universe. She tells us that she believes that there must be other life out there - not necessarily the little green men we all expect - not the daleks we all have nightmares about - but there must be life. The universe is so huge! I want Maggie to have her own science show. She made us laugh and her enthusiasm for science and its place in our world, and for encouraging young girls to follow their dreams, was just infectious. She's definitely made it to my hypothetical celeb dinner party scenario from now on.

sarahailan.wordpress.com

Next was Luton's own Stacey Dooley. I hadn't even heard of Stacey before and at first I wasn't really sure which side of the fence to sit on when it came to her journalistic style. Faced with genuine high-risk problems she is often placed in situations where producers know she'll give an emotive response. A clip she showed us at the event threw me even more towards the fence, an extremist march in Luton, where I was waiting to hear both sides go at it. It came, but it just wasn't the intellectual battle I wanted, I didn't LEARN from the encounter - only that maybe 'I can do what I want' isn't the most intellectual/argument-winning phrase. I think it was unfortunate that the line made it to the final cut but then I enjoyed the honesty of that. Upon getting home I watched the rest of the episode and it actually changed my opinion of the piece completely. I want to watch more of her work now, and with her upcoming 6min features online, I'll be sure to. Presenting aside, her talk was just as inspiring as the rest - encouraging us all to go out there and try new things and say things. She is humble about her journey into the industry and her go-get-it attitude really was infectious. She is friendly, funny and charming to listen to, which I suppose stands her in good stead for the relationships she builds up quickly with contributors. I particularly enjoyed the third clip she showed us, referring to the main contributor as 'my mate brown' a teenage girl and young offender who shares an emotional encounter with Stacey. Another episode I'll have to watch in full - ok, maybe I'm not on the fence after all. I might just be swaying towards enjoying it! Another great talk!

telegraph.co.uk

Finally, we heard Tom Lawton, who spoke of the advancement in Virtual Reality technology and his place in its journey. He also shared his philosophy on how he thinks TV SHOULD work, and what it might perhaps be like someday. He shared that TV will inevitably become more immersive and 3D isn't immersive enough for our audience - which might explain its inability to maintain interest - we need more! Tom has created a 360 degree camera called Bubblescope, that allows us all to capture a unique moment as an experience, rather than just a framed image, and the app that comes with it, 'Bubblepix' allows us to share it instantly. Framed images, Tom believes are cutting out the beauty of neutrality and empathy and forcing our hand at telling a particular story. He tells of a friend's comment on the fall of Sadame Hussain's statue, when he realised that all of the TV cameras were filming from the same direction, to show one side of the story. Only Al Jazeera filmed it differently, before being shut down by the Americans. He also told us about how he believes that TVs in our living rooms will need to be more than a VR headset. We enjoy the social aspect of television, and VR needs to embrace that. We'll have 360 experiences just like Bubblecam, in our own living rooms, not so far in the future, with projections surrounding us on all four walls. He was fascinating to listen to and with youtube and facebook opening up their outputs to include 360degree shareable video, Tom got me thinking about how my content in the future will have to live up to this new, emerging immersive culture.

thedrum.com

Television is changing. It is adapting to the world around it. Ivan told us of the importance of entrepreneurship and diversity. Maggie told us of family, of reaching for the stars (literally) and of women needing role models. Stacey told us of how BBC3 is moving online and how her presenting style and aptitude for dividing opinion isn't necessarily a thing to shy away from, in fact it's helped her career (perhaps something our commissioners could note). Tom told us of how we are venturing into a new immersive world, where TV will need to adapt to reflect the honesty/empathy of its content, in more ways than we can imagine. 

EdTalks was a fantastic event, and one where we can take away the messages of its speakers and apply it to our industry. Edinburgh TV Festival embraces this growing immersive and diversified culture and it will be people like those that attend GEITF, who will emerge as the real game-changers. I can't wait for the festival later this year. A great evening with huge thanks to UKTV and GEITF.

The Baby Born in a Concentration Camp

Eva Clarke - Born in Mauthausen Concentration Camp

On Wednesday 26th November I had the honour of listening to Eva Clarke, who shared with me, and a room filled with fellow Regional Ambassadors for the Holocaust Educational Trust, her truly unbelievable survival story. Unfortunately her mother Anka Bergman passed away last year but there is still a way we can hear from her for ourselves.

In 2013 the BBC made a short documentary film about their incredible story where Anka gets to tell us for herself, how she survived. I never fail to be blown away by the humble and tender nature of holocaust survivors, having been through and seen so much of humanity's darkest hours. Anka turned up on her cousins doorstep after the war, babe in arms and desperate. The film is a wonderful testament to Anka and those who took her in as she can no longer hold back the tears at how grateful she is for their kindness.

It does have its short falls. There is a lack of original archive. The image of young Anka is used too often and the story is driven by interviews rather than interviews being added to help contextualize the piece or add to it's impact. The film looks to have had a tight turn around and for that reason, I find it hard to fault the rest of the film. It would have been nice to see the two contributors together though. They are talking about a story that concerns them both, and concerns their love and respect for each other, but we don't get to see them together beyond the opening shot. That would have added to the film I think. 

Anka Bergman - gave birth unaided whilst weighing approx 5 stone

Documentary aside, Anka is an incredible woman. To have given birth twice within the 4yrs she suffered under Nazi persecution, and to have survived Theresienstadt, Auschwitz AND Mauthausen, whilst barely 5 stone and giving birth unaided to a 3 pound baby. It really was a miracle that both Anka and Eva survived to tell us the tale for themselves, and tell it together.

Eva Clarke, is a really wonderful lady too. She sat among the circle of Regional Ambassadors with the Holocaust Educational trust to listen to our plans for 2015: the 70th anniversary year of the liberation of so many camps, including the infamous Auschwitz. Eva shared that she was almost moved to tears as we, who are all under the age of 26, shared our plans for preserving her mother's memory and so many others. We share a very close relationship with survivors of the holocaust and 2015 is our chance to show them all how grateful we are that they share their stories with us and how committed we are to ensuring that they are not forgotten. Documentaries like this one, can only help us in our aims to embrace 'Keeping the Memory Alive' (the theme of this year's holocaust memorial day - which coincidentally is the week of Eva's 70th birthday and the 70th anniversary year of the liberation), as we try to increase the resources available and ensure that in the coming years, as the survivor community lessens, that their stories and lessons are carried forward.

You can watch the film here:  

If you are interested in hearing more holocaust survivor testimonies, please watch my film 'After Auschwitz' here: https://vimeo.com/101650543

And please visit: http://collections.ushmm.org/search/

The Trench

A Monday night at the theatre after a busy weekend of filming was apparently just what the doctor ordered. Greenwich Theatre was host to hit Edinburgh Fringe Show 'The Trench' by Les Enfants Terribles. The audience walked into a smoky auditorium with the outline of a blackened trench showing the stage. It took a while for me to notice the members of the cast sitting in the darkness also.

http://lesenfantsterribles.co.uk/shows/the-trench/

My lack of awareness was probably because of the sense of dread I had at the amount of teenagers there on a school trip. I wouldn't normally have minded this but fifteen minutes into the production, having listened to a wealth of inappropriate comments by a single teenage boy, I, not far from teen-hood myself, had to turn around and tell him to be quiet for me to actually begin to start understanding and becoming part of the performance.

Back to the show.

As the play began I found it a little difficult to get used to the main character's third person narration. Once I'd settled into it though, it got easier to follow and the physical theatre was not only supportive of this narration, but simply brilliant. The incorporation of minimal props, of shadows, of projection, of movement, of puppetry and of song was what made a fairly ordinary written piece, into a stunning one.

The still images I've included show you just how imaginative Les Enfants Terribles have been with their production although it doesn't not show you the carefully choreographed movement that accompanied each episode. The breathing in of the monster during the 'gas attack', the moving of the set across the stage during the projections to give the illusion of time and movement, the beautiful embodiment of the beast and of our soldier's wife. 

The set was more than just a prop, it was a part of the production, cleverly designed to seamlessly interact with the cast. The props are passed through it, the lights are shone through it, the cast are seen within it and above it, it folds down to show the bedroom of our soldiers pregnant wife, it moves and collapses to become part of our soldier's journey and to show the disorientation of being buried alive - but to name a few.

The props and puppets were beautifully made and we as an audience appreciate them all the more as they are so tenderly manoeuvred. A particular favourite moment was when the wife reaches out her hand for the rain and snow and smooths over the snow beneath her.

There was symbolism everywhere too. The story follows our entrenched soldier as he faces three challenges from the beasts of his prison, challenges to prove his good and strong heart. The first, is to walk the path of the dead and not falter. Overcome his fear and walk on towards the exit - The fear that comes with war. The second, to tell another beast what you could possibly give those in charge of war to stop them, as smoke rises and blisters his skin, he answers nothing - a gas attack and battling hallucination and pain to stay true to the cause of war. The third, to put his inner child aside and others first as he rescues his comrade buried alongside him - the loss of childhood innocence and camaraderie that came with war, lost brothers in arms. All symbols within the symbol of walking the path towards death. Pain, loss of hope then one last push before denial and death.

The walk towards the light could have been him facing death, it could have been the end of the war, it could have been his escaping the tunnel. The truth may be death but the production leaves it so we make up our minds, create our own story, our own endings... as they who fought could not.

Overall a wonderful piece with a voice that transcended our subconscious into seeking every metaphor, asking every question. A tremendous voice that I am eternally grateful exists outside of the theatre circuit. He stills your soul with his falsetto and makes our journey with 'The Trench' complete. You can buy his music here: http://alexanderwolfe.bandcamp.com/

Enough of the poetry, a truly stunning show that was not to be ruined by the ignorant teenage boy at the start, who failed to appreciate the emotive performance we all became a part of.

http://lesenfantsterribles.co.uk/shows/the-trench/