What a mosaic of inspiring films to set us on our way.
Many thanks to:
Kim and Nick Hoare – who curated and organised the event
Judith, Michae, John, Gus, Ann, Rachel – Halesworth Ash team
Aafa and the Cut
Lauri Elmo the Cut projectionist
Colin, Anita, Gabrielle, Phil who worked the all day kitchen
Gus, Michael, Kim, Nick, the soup makers
Rebecca Bishop from The Next Loaf who made and supplied the most delicious sourdough savories
Geoff, Wil, Meg, Joyce, Alison, the speakers who introduced the films.
Halesworth’s first ever “Big Green Film Day” held at The Cut arts centre on Sunday welcomed over 200 people to watch films, enjoy music as well as great food and drink. Audiences were treated to a range of films looking at different aspects of the environment, including a powerful documentary about the state of our rivers presented by campaigning journalist George Monbiot, followed by two short films focusing on otters in the Blyth (shot by the otters themselves, triggering a series of wildlife cameras) and Halesworth’s Millennium Green, through which the River Blyth runs. The Wilder Wenhaston group shared information about their new Blyth monitoring project which uses teams of citizen scientists to measure the pollution levels of the Blyth and monitor the impact on wildlife (not to mention humans thinking about taking a dip…), with the aim of holding those responsible to account.
From local to global, Councillor Geoff Wakeling shared with the audience a film that inspired his move into farming with The Biggest Little Farm; the audience was briefly transported to the warmth of west coast America as the film followed a couple battling the odds to restore biodiversity to neglected farmland, facing the challenges of fire, drought, disease, coyotes and gophers (fortunately the last two not a problem in Suffolk). Halesworth Harmony choir responded to the film with two beautiful acapella songs – Wangari and Restore our Earth – which didn’t leave many dry eyes in the house! A lunch of soups and delicious sourdough bread and treats from Rebecca Bishop (founder of The Two Magpies Bakery and now running The Next Loaf baking school) was accompanied by great music from The Kitchen Band and an opportunity to chat and find out more about local initiatives and groups working to improve the environment, or to wander back into the cinema to catch a screening of the new Ralph Fiennes campaigning film Coast from the Suffolk Energy Action Solutions group, about the proposals to turn the Suffolk coastline into an energy hub . Finally, it was a full house for the last film of the day – the highly acclaimed Nettle Dress, a poignant, lyrical film following a textile artist who spends seven years crafting a hand-spun dress from foraged nettles in memory of his recently deceased wife, set in deepest Sussex.
The Big Green Film Day was one of a series of monthly events that will run throughout the year organised by Halesworth ASH (Area Sustainability Hub) aimed at increasing the awareness of the climate crisis, building local resilience and strengthening community bonds. An event focussed on home energy was held in January, and over the next few months you can enjoy an illustrated talk on The Future of Plastics at The Cut on 14th March; a farm walk at Earlsway Farm on 14th April; the Wakelyns Agroforestry Open Weekend in May, with more to come throughout the year – for the full programme visit the Halesworth ASH website at https://halesworthash.com
