Chocolate Films is expanding into new and exciting areas. Reaching out into the exhibition field, we have begun a new project called Out of the Ordinary, which aims to engage the community in organising their own screenings and popup cinemas around London. Having already piloted the first horror popup cinema event for Out of the Ordinary in January 2012, it was a complete success and we're pleased to say that this series of screenings is going to be an on-going film exhibition project. (If you would like to read the full story from the Out of the Ordinary pilot popup cinema, then please click here). The next screening event to put in your diary is 18th April at the Exhibit cinema in Balham. It's another horror evening, curated by the young people at the Refugee Home School Support Project in Battersea. Weekly workshops are currently taking place for the young people of RHSSP who are interested in curating their own film screening and interactive event. They will come up with the programme, design the marketing materials, attend film screenings, organise interactive games and work on the production design for the screening. The details for this event is as follows: 18th April 2012, doors open at 6pm, Screening begins at 6.30-8.30pmFilm: TBC FREE! This is to be followed by another popup cinema event on 12th May at the Brick Box in Tooting market, as part of the Wandsworth Arts Festival. Keep an eye out on our social media for more details of this event. Below is the poster for our pilot popup cinema event held in January 2012. More posters like this will be going live on our social media for our upcoming film screenings. Join us for a journey into the unknown!
0 commentsFrom 20th March to 9th September 2012, the Geffrye Museum is telling a fantastic story about how a myriad of the domestic designs, decorations, materials and social customs we consider to be 'English', in fact originate elsewhere. At Home with the World is one of a series of Stories of the World: London exhibitions across London exploring four aspects of life in this World City - Home, Identity, Journeys and Place. Chocolate Films has had the pleasure of working with the Geffrye Museum for the last three years on the Home strand of the Stories of the World project, as part of the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad - a UK celebration of diversity and creativity which explores the stories behind museum collections and works with young people to create exhibitions and events around specific themes. Since 2009, Chocolate Films has provided intensive community and youth engagement work in the way of a whole range of filmmaking workshops, using the Geffrye's collection to tell a story. We're pleased to say that 35 of these short films will be shown as part of the exhibition. Admission to the exhibition is free to all. Please see the below document for more information about the Stories of the World project and exhibition. Youth Advisory Panel member with a selected Geffrye Museum object.
0 commentsAfter a successful two years of the Take Me To London project, it's back for 2012! With funding from BAA, Chocolate Films is partnering with Watermans once again to run this fantastic project. 5 groups of secondary school students from west London will be visiting 1 of 5 London landmarks; the London Transport Museum, V&A, Museum of Childhood, Kensington Palace and Tate Modern, and making a short documentary or digital storytelling film about their experiences at these landmarks. Some of these young people have not had the chance to explore central London let-alone make their own film, so this is a fantastic, new opportunity for them to experience filmmaking with museum culture. At the end of the project, the films will be publicly exhibited at Watermans during a month long Take Me To London 2012 exhibition. Aoife has started the project this week, with the first of 6 digtial-storytelling workshops at Barnhill School in Middlesex and there is much excitement about visiting their London landmark, The Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green. Rachel Wang, director of Chocolate Films, spoke to the west London based community radio station, Hayes FM about the project. You can listen to Rachel's interview here.
0 commentsBe Zero Waste - Join Brixton, the short information film made for Lambeth Council featuring local Brixton residents on their journey to a zero-waste lifestyle, is having a screening at the Brixton Library on Saturday 25th February at 11am, along with 2 other short films. Parents and kids are invited to have fun and get inspired by these 3 fantastic films. Check the flyer for more details:
0 commentsWe have an exciting FREE opportunity coming up in March, for schools across London to get involved in a filmmaking competition at one of the Historical Royal Palaces! Chocolate Films is teaming up with The Tower of London to provide this one-in-a-lifetime experience for young people (13 through to 17 years) to engage with the Tower of London in a heritage day and a series of creative film making workshops. Through filmmaking young people will explore the Tower of London and work with professionals to produce a creative film responding to this question; “Who are we and what does our World Heritage Site mean to us?” In the month of March, 15 students (3 groups of 5) from the selected school will be involved in a five day workshop; working with a Tower of London Education Officer and Chocolate Films. A group of 5 students (+2 adults) will attend the Youth Summit. Please ensure that your students and adult leaders are available to take time off from school from 27th –29th June 2012. This is a fantastic FREE opportunity for your school to be involved in, and what a better setting for a film then The Tower of London! Please see the attached 2-page document for more detail:
0 commentsLast night was the pilot of our Out of the Ordinary pop-up cinema event. Held at busy Tooting market after-hours at The Brick Box, 30 of us were locked in the dark for an evening of experimental and horror films. Upon entering the cinema, we had set up a selection of light boxes, each with a different, eerie scene to get everyone in the mood for what they were about to watch. The hype and excitement of the event descended into silence as everyone took to the cardboard bales, as the films began. The main feature, The Silent House, had everyone talking at the end; not just because of it's unexpected twist, but because the whole 78 minutes of the film is a single shot from beginning to end. Something to make even the keenest filmmaker inspired. However the main feature was not the only thing to get people excited; everyone was treated to a hot water bottle and a blanket to keep in the heat (Tooting market on a January's evening is not the warmest of places!). Even the popcorn and chocolate did the job of keeping out the cold too! It was something fun, completely different and definitely something we will be doing again. We can't wait to arrange the next Out of the Ordinary event. Check out the photos from last nights screening:
0 commentsTim and Ally spent 3 days in Graz last week, as part of the Touch project. This was the third Graz trip of the project and it was great for the team to be back. It was off the plane and straight to a student radio station to film Helmut and Anna, from the West Midlands European Service in Brussels, being interviewed. Although the interview was in German, we heard Chocolate Films mentioned a couple of times! The next day, Helmut and his team at Caritas hosted a big conference for all the partners of the project. This was an opportunity for everyone involved from Graz, Cologne, London, Birmingham and Bradford, even members of the European funding team, to all join and discuss the project so far and get a first glimpse of a rough-cut of the footage from the first Cologne trip last June. This was extremely well received by everyone and so the editors are looking forward to cracking on with the rest of the footage. Our final day saw everyone head to city hall, a very impressive building with stunning interior, for a Mayoral reception lunch (although unfortunately we didn't see the mayor!). Here the Touch team heard the good news that a policy had been passed (whilst everyone had been in Graz) that the city council are going to build more housing for under privileged families of the city. And it seems that having the whole Touch team in the city was gaining interest as another radio station came to speak to some of the team for a pre-recorded feature. We ended our time at city hall by having the opportunity to stand on the mayors balcony and look over the square. A perfect GV and photo opportunity for Tim and I! The next time all the partners will be together is in April, for the London conference. We look forward to seeing everyone then. Check out photos from the trip:
0 commentsSaturday 14th January saw Chocolate Film's host the first screening event of the new year at the prestigious BFI on London's Southbank for the Affinity Sutton filmmaking project, Roots. All 8 short films which were made by the young residents were screened followed by the handing out of filmmaking and Arts Award certificates as well as a DVD copy of all the films. It was a really exciting event and we were thrilled to have 75+ of the partners and young filmmakers there in attendance. The screening was followed by a very well received Q&A session with all the participants. It was the perfect opportunity for our audience members to gain a better insight into the inspirations behind their films. Our audience members had come from all over the country, so a big thank you again to all those that made the long journey down to London. Check out photos from the screening:
0 commentsWednesday 11th January saw the pilot of the London Urban Communities Documentary Festival held at the Museum of London Docklands. 8 out of the 10 short documentaries shown were all made by young people on Chocolate Films facilitated workshops. It was a great chance for us to invite our clients, partners and participants of the project to come and see their documentaries on the big screen. The 8 films that were screened were: 1. A New Beginning - A short film by young people who attend the New Horizon Youth Centre in Euston, London, which looks at their experiences of homelessness. 2. The Rise and Fall of London's Fashion Hubs - A light-hearted look at London's fashion hubs, from Carnaby Street in the swinging sixties to Shoreditch's hipster paradise today. 3. Living in Leytonstone: Identity and Belonging - At Home in Europe project worked together with Leytonstone School to explore views and experiences of belonging and identity in the London Borough of Waltham Forest. 4. What and Where is Acton Town? - Students from Acton High School worked with us to make a short documentary exploring what makes Acton Town special, and revealed some of their favourite places in Acton Town. 5. Industrial Youth - An exploration of childhood experiences in London from poverty in the Victorian workhouses, hardship and fun in the Blitz, and life for London's 21st Century children. 6. Young and Polish in London - Young and Polish in London is a documentary about 3 young Polish immigrants. They explore their Polish heritage, their families and how they came to be here. 7. Tea Dance - This is a lighthearted and insightful short documentary where young people learn what makes the elderly tick and visa versa. 8. London: A Dream or Illusion - A short film that looks at London through the eyes of young people with experiences of homelessness from New Horizon Youth Centre in Euston.Check out some of the photos taken on the night:
0 commentsSince August 2011, Chocolate Films has been working with Affinity Sutton, a national housing association, bringing various filmmaking projects and workshops to young people who live on their estates. The young people have come up with a mixture of drama and documentary to show case their ideas of the main theme of the project: Roots. Workshops took place all over London, Hertfordshire, Bradford and Plymouth. We're excited for all these films to be screened at the prestigious BFI on London's Southbank. If you would like to attend on Saturday 14th January 2012, 1.30 - 3.30pm (film screening at 2pm), please RSVP to Alessandra Cocksedge or call the office on 020 7793 4287 to book your place. The screening is open to all and free of charge. Check the flyer for more details: We look forward to seeing as many of you there as possible! Check out some of the pictures taken during the shoot of the project:
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