Fabian’s Film Wants To Hear From You

As Culture, Data, Projector concludes its journey, Fabian’s Film wants to hear from you

Exeter Phoenix have supported Fabian’s Film’s latest film project Culture, Data, Projector. The film project concludes over the coming weeks after the close of the epic Rugby World Cup tournament 2015, having provided an alternative and diverse view of the sport, culture and climate in our city and beyond.

With support from Met Office scientists, five artists/teams were commissioned to create a series of documentary films which use data as part of their narrative. The artistic team also consisted of Amanda Whittington, David Salas, Emma George, Catherine Cartwright & Toby & Kate De Burgh bringing a range of disciplines to the table in the practice of moving image (above, from left). Each artist worked with cinematographer Chris Jones and editor Joshua Gaunt to bring their ideas to fruition.

“The Culture, Data, Projector Project brings together local artists, art institutions, cultural and business agencies, to create a supportive environment to collaborate on 5 new moving image works.

Each film responds specifically to themes around the environment, identities and cultures of the 5 nations who took part in the Rugby World Cup events in Exeter during September and October 2015. Together, they form a legacy, which celebrates the rich diversity of cultures within the South West region.”

John Sealey , Director of Fabian’s Film

In their films the artists have represented one or more of the five nations using animated, poetic or expository documentary forms and are engaging with local Italian, Georgian, Namibian, Tongan and Romanian communities. Each artist has approached the brief differently, allowing Culture, Data, Projector to present a range of spectacles through which to view the diverse cultural landscape of our city. Emma George explores identity as absence and how we are shaped by the landscape of our childhood in her film The Presence of Blue and the Absence of Green, whilst Catherine Cartwright combines her artistic practices of screen-printing and animation to create Where the Children Play, a reflection on where sport begins; in the imaginations and playtime of childhood. Alternatively, Toby & Kate De Burgh’s English Rain flicks the viewer through the TV channels of Italian weather, sports and culture coverage to explore a new wave of Italian migration that has lead to well-educated Italians leaving home looking for opportunities elsewhere – many finding their way to the UK and the South West.

Inspired by artefacts in the Tongan collection at Exeter’s RAMM museum, Amanda Whittington created Tongan Threads – an abstract documentary that weaves the viewer through the threads of the ngatu – the Tongan barkcloth that holds the key to Tongan culture. David Salas also adopts a conceptual approach, taking cultural conversations onto the very grounds of the Sandy Park Rugby stadium. Shot against this dramatic sporting backdrop, Italy and Romania 2015 seeks to explore what happens if you place international lives in the foreground and change the traditional data set. In his film Salas asks ‘What does Rugby look like without a ball?’. It’s time to play a game.

Throughout September and October, the films popped up within the city to expose these captivating international stories to the residents and visitors of Exeter. Culture, Data, Projector featured on the impressive big screens of the Exeter City Council Fanzone in Northernhay Gardens to crowds of hardy Rugby fans braving the drizzly British climate to enjoy the entertainment and sporting matches on offer at this great venue.

For those more accustomed to the warmth and comfort of the cafes, bars and cultural hotspots in Exeter, we dropped our screens into Boston Tea Party, Double Locks, Tabac (Queen St) and Exeter Phoenix and are due to visit The Rusty Bike (Howell Road) for their final stop this week.

If you have missed them, you still have the chance to view online to journey through the untold stories of a diverse cultural landscape on www.fabiansfilm.com/the-films.

Fabian’s Film are keen to collect your feedback – email a 3 word response, or a more detailed comment of one or more of the films to fabiansfilms@outlook.com or send them a tweet @FabiansFilm.

The project is supported using public funding by Arts Council England and also has funding support from Exeter City Council, who are leading the Rugby World Cup events in Exeter in Autumn, including the Fanzone that will host sport, music and film entertainment in Northernhay Gardens during the Rugby World Cup. Support has also been provided from the Met Office (Exeter), Exeter College, the Open Data Institute and Exeter Phoenix.

Fabian’s Film is a Community Interest Company based in Exeter whose mission is to make films which reflect the culturally diverse landscape of the British Isles; a form of Transnational British Film. For more information about Fabian’s Film or updates on the Culture, Data, Projector project visit the website, Facebook, and follow them on Twitter @FabiansFilm.