Interview with Richard Smith, Sustainability Manager at BBC

This is an interview with Richard Smith, a sustainability manager at the BBC who’s job it is to work with everybody at the BBC to help collectively reduce the environmental impact of the BBC. And because the main thing which impacts the environment is energy use, that is directly related to climate change and that was why he was in Manchester Museum taking part in the Climate Control exhibitions and events. Read more…

Film: Mad World Exhibition; The Asylum of Doctor Rosenhan

This is a short film made around the Mad World Exhibition, a part of the Ragged University project which brought together lots of artwork in a space exploring and challenging narratives of madness. Mad World is a publicly owned collection of perspectives which challenge and move forward discussions surrounding mental health.  The Mad World exhibition took place in Gallery One of Edinburgh Palette, St Margarets House. Read more…

Podcast: Food Inc; The Film And A Discussion

Food, Inc. is a film about what is happening to our food chain.  Every month, we watch a film, have some food, and discuss what we saw at the Serenity Cafe. The food we had was vegetarian curry made with organic ingredients donated by the Ragged community so we could have a community meal.  The film was about the increasingly unhealthy way our food is produced such that the methods are damaging the environment, abusing workers, and having cruel disregard for the animals.
Made by the Emmy award winning filmmaker Robert Kenner, it’s primary focus is on the United States, however this is now relevant worldwide as the companies which it examines – and the methods of production – are multinational.  These are not American problems, these are world problems.  The corporations which have come to dominate the world production of beef, pork, chicken, maize, soy, potatoes and other staples, are not rooted in any one single country – they have global reach.
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Paul Bruce and Edinburgh Short Film Festival

I have been a film-maker since the early 1990s, training and working with various film and media organisations in Edinburgh including Lothian Video Users Group, Video Access Centre, Leith Unemployed Media Group, Mediabase and others.

I was awarded funding in the early 1990s to make a film for Video Access Centre and the LUMG and have since made a dozen short films which have screened at festivals throughout the UK and around the world, have screened on satellite and cable TV and via on-line distribution networks.
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Edinburgh Short Film Festival: Successful Format Piloted

Well, the night of the 12th went down very well, in fact it has generated a really positive response of support for the project.  Thanks to Paul Bruce, creator of the Edinburgh Short Film Festival, we managed to have a night of film and exploring if we could viably thread short talks amongst the films.  Well it happened, cinema and talks go quite well together.  A special thanks to Jack the technician for making sure it all happened smoothly and without hitch.  As a pilot night it proved that it could be done and over 140 people came to see the whole evening on the sunny shore of Leith. Read more…