November 2010 - University of the West of England

NEWS
Stills from the films
UWE filmmakers celebrate Doc/Fest success
Two Media Practice graduates had
their short films shortlisted for the
Sheffield Student Doc Award at
Europe's biggest documentary film
festival, the Sheffield International
Documentary Festival (3 – 7
November).
Documentary directors Juris Kudeiko
and Andrew Whitehouse who
completed their studies this summer
produced the films as part of their
final year coursework. They join
a growing list of Media Practice
graduates who have found success in
this competition in recent years.
Alistair Oldham, Senior Lecturer in
Media Practice at UWE, who teaches
the documentary strand, said, “It's
great news that students from the
Media Practice course at UWE have
had their films selected for the
Sheffield International Documentary
Festival. I'm obviously really pleased
for the students concerned. That
makes six UWE documentaries in three
years for selection at Sheffield, which
certainly puts us in the top league of
student documentary film making in
this country. I think besides us only
the National Film School could claim
to have that kind of success rate. ”
Juris Kudeiko used his home country
of Latvia as the inspiration for his
film, Don’t Give Up Your Guns. This
dark documentary is an examination
of the difficulties faced by Latvian
immigrants in Severn Beach, Bristol
through the example of a patriotic
young man.
Juris explains, “The film is my response
to what is going on back in Latvia,
what young people such as Armand,
my friend and the main character in
the film are forced to do and how
much it takes to live in a totally new
environment away from home. Also
I have always been shocked with the
way that some British individuals see
Eastern European migrant workers
here in England, so throughout the
film I wanted to reflect that these
people aren't coming here to steal the
jobs but to survive.
“I’m honoured to be nominated and
take part in such a great festival. But
the main idea for me is to get the
message across and for the film to be
seen by people. I’m really pleased that
the film will be broadcast on national
Latvian television and am also
applying to other film festivals.”
Andrew Whitehouse and Adalean
Coade directed Shooting Blind.
Describing the film, Andrew said,
“It’s an inspiring documentary about
blind football and the individuals who
represent the national team. 2010 was
a big year for England, as they were
hosting the Blind Football World Cup
for the first time. The film follows
the team through their training,
revealing the dynamics of the game
and the individuals who make up the
current squad, and ends with their
last friendly before the tournament -
England vs Germany.
“Adalean (Co-Director and Producer)
and I wanted to highlight and
discover how people with disabilities
can achieve through their passion
and determination. When we got
in contact with The Royal National
College for the Blind, they told us
about the England team and about
the idea of blind football. We knew
then that this was an important and
poignant story to tell, as disability
sports are not highlighted often in the
mainstream media, especially in 2010
with the football world cup in South
Africa coinciding with the Blind World
Cup in Hereford.
“We’re very proud of our
achievements and wish to keep
showing people how amazing these
players are as genuine role models
and ambassadors to sport. Addy
and I put a lot into this project to
develop our abilities, as well as those
who worked alongside us to make it
happen, and this nomination gives
all of us reassurance going into the
industry about what the degree has
taught us.”
Shooting Blind has already been
shown at the Jersey Film Festival this
year, and will be part of the digital
catalogue at the Encounters film
festival in Bristol later this month.
www.shooting-blind.co.uk
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