SUCCESS FOR CORNWALL FILM FESTIVAL’S FILMMAKING PROJECT FOR PEOPLE WITH LEARNING DISABILITIES.
A special screening of short films made as part of a filmmaking project for people with learning disabilities is to be held this week. Participants in the filmmaking workshops have been invited by the Cornwall Film Festival team to celebrate the success of the project, before the films are screened at the Cornwall Film Festival in November.
Three films were made by groups in Cornwall as part of a pilot scheme run by Cornwall Film Festival this year, supported by the Cornwall Community Fund, to enable people with learning disabilities and their carers to make short films.
The project began in March with a Filmmaking Masterclass at Cornwall College led by members from the Oska Bright Committee, an international Film Festival run by and for people with learning disabilities. This session was open to groups from across Cornwall and included participants from the Blantyre Centre in St Austell, the Newquay Project and the John Daniel Centre in Penzance.
Individual workshops were then held during June and July with the Murdoch and Trevithick Centre in Redruth, the John Daniel Centre in Penzance and Choice in Camborne. Filmmaker Barbara Santi of awen productions lead the workshops with help from arts practitioners Phil Jacobs and Colin Curbishley.
The Cornwall Film Festival hopes to offer this kind of opportunity in future years to enable more people to benefit from these workshops. There is high demand for this type of experience and the response to this project has been extremely positive.
Tiffany Holmes, who coordinated the project said: “This is such a great project – you can see the benefits immediately on the faces of the participants – they are learning new skills, making new friends, gaining in confidence, and, most importantly having a fantastic time”.
The groups will all be meeting up at Cornwall College this Friday to watch their films with tea and cake made specially in honour of the occasion by the Murdoch and Trevithick centre.
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