Ffilm School, a project started by filmmaker James R Price and supported by CO2RE, recently kicked off with a residential week for participants at Bwlch Corog, a site in the Welsh moorlands cared for by the charity Coetir Anian, and neighbouring Cefn Coch Farm.
The participants gathered to learn filmmaking techniques and begin developing the film they will create together: This Land to Come. The film will look at how practices used to remove CO2 from the atmosphere will impact the land and the people who live in it. At Bwlch Corog, they got to grips with their film equipment and took inspiration from the landscape and the connected rivers. They will be working on their film over the coming months, and the final film will be shown at our arts event in June.
The people taking part, or conspiring, in the project, are known as “conspirators”, “conspirator-hosts” and “conspirator-guides”, rather than “students”, “support workers” and “lecturers”. Crucially, everyone working on the project is being paid to take part in the two residential weeks of the course, and they are all paid at the same rate. The purpose of this “anti-extractivist” approach is to challenge the traditional hierarchies and unpaid labour so often present in the film industry, and to put all of the participants on an equal footing. This approach also extends to the equipment they are using, which is secondhand and recycled in order to lessen the impact on the environment.
The participants gathered to learn filmmaking techniques and begin developing the film they will create together: This Land to Come. The film will look at how practices used to remove CO2 from the atmosphere will impact the land and the people who live in it. At Bwlch Corog, they got to grips with their film equipment and took inspiration from the landscape and the connected rivers. They will be working on their film over the coming months, and the final film will be shown at our arts event in June.
The conspirators described the time at Bwlch Corog as “very special” and “a dream-like week”. They will gather for a second residential week at Bwlch Corog in the spring. We’re looking forward to hearing more as the course progresses.
Ffilm School is one of the seven arts projects supported by CO2RE. Learn more about the projects here.
All photos by Heledd Wynn. Find her at heleddwyn.co.uk and @heledd_m_wyn.
