Festivals

Take One Action is back to inspire a better world

The Take One Action film festival returns to Aberdeen on 22-24 October, hoping to inspire us to push for a fairer and more sustainable world. The Scottish charity, founded by film lovers, aim to bring audiences together through film screenings and conversations. They also hope to inspire audiences to take action for themselves.

This year they’ll present challenging and urgent international cinema exploring social and environmental justice. And so, the hope is that audiences will have deeper conversations about the world we live in. Also, and perhaps more importantly, this could make people feel able take actual action to improve lives.

Belmont Cinema will play host in Aberdeen this year, and films have been made available on a pay-what-you-can basis. Organisers are keen to make the festival as accessible. Therefore all films are captioned for deaf and hard-of-hearing audiences

Tamara Van Strijthem, Take One Action’s Executive Director, spoke of how pleased they were to be back presenting the festival. “After so many months apart, we are excited and grateful to be inviting audiences to celebrate the power of community and connection through world-changing cinema. COP26 in November represents such a crucial moment for our planet’s future. Subsequently, our programme offers a much-needed opportunity to pause and reflect – and to question just how we’ve arrived at the topsy-turvy reality we call our own.”

Take One Action is funded by The National Lottery and Scottish Government through Screen Scotland and also supported by Film Hub Scotland.

We’re looking forward to this year’s festival, so thought we’d let you know what to expect.

What films are on show for Take One Action 2021?

Living Proof

Emily Munro | UK | 2021 | 95min | English | Ages 8+ | World Premiere

Fri 22 Oct | 20:00 | Belmont Filmhouse | Tickets

A stunning new archive documentary that looks for the roots of the climate crisis in Scotland’s post-war history.

In the year that Scotland hosts COP26, the film asks was climate change inevitable? Director and curator Emily Munro searches for the roots of the climate crisis in our postwar history. In this new documentary, archive footage from the National Library of Scotland portrays a country shaped by demands for energy and economic growth. In addition, the eclectic soundtrack amplifies the voices of the past in powerful, and sometimes unsettling, ways.

150 years of moving image heritage can only offer us a glimpse of human history. However, the proliferation of video today makes the moving image a crucial way to document our impact on the planet. Are we heading into new territory, or are we caught in a cycle of familiar promises?

The Ants and the Grasshopper

Raj Patel & Zak Piper | USA | 2021 | 74min | English/Tumbuka | Ages 8+ | Scottish Premiere

Thu 23 Oct | 17:30 | Belmont Filmhouse | Tickets

How do the roots of change grow?

Anita Chitaya seems unstoppable as she works tirelessly to transform farming practices in her village in Malawi and turns gender discrimination on its head. But in her battle against drought and extreme weather events, she takes on her greatest challenge yet: persuading Americans that climate change is real.

She visits rural farms and urban food cooperatives across the US, navigating deep national divisions. In addition, she appeals to those in a position of privilege to embrace change with the urgency the climate crisis demands.

The Last Forest

Sat 23 Oct | 20:00 | Belmont Filmhouse | Tickets

A mesmerising journey into the heart of Brazil’s Amazonian forest, in the footsteps of the Yanomami.

From missionaries to gold miners, the Yanomami people have endured centuries of violence at the hands of white colonisers. Developed in collaboration with the community itself, The Last Forest blends observational footage and dreamlike staged sequences to explore the Yanomami’s creation myths, their relationship to nature, and their ongoing struggle to preserve their natural environment.

Co-scripted by Yanomami shaman Davi Kopenawa, the film unfolds in lush cinematography, multi-layered soundscapes and ethereal musical sections. The film exposed the environmental and political threats affecting Indigenous Peoples in present-day Brazil. However The Last Forest is first and foremost a homage to the strength of a community coming together. People honouring its traditions and stand up for its rights – and its future.

The New Corporation: The Unfortunately Necessary Sequel

Sun 24 Oct | 17:30 | Belmont Filmhouse | Tickets

An urgent takedown of corporate greenwashing that pulls no punches.

Finally, the filmmakers behind 2003’s global hit “The Corporation” return after almost 20 years with their “Unfortunately Necessary Sequel”. They investigate how the corporate takeover of society is being justified by the sly rebranding of corporations as socially-conscious entities. Furthermore, The New Corporation lays bare the disturbing realities of companies’ desperation to achieve profit at any cost. From the climate crisis through to racial injustice and surging inequality.

Far from a sigh of despair, however, this punchy documentary celebrates the groundswell of movements taking to the streets in pursuit of justice and the planet’s future. It also provides a providing a rallying cry for social justice, deeper democracy, and transformative solutions.

What you need to know

About POST

Kevin Mitchell and Chris Sansbury founded POST from a desire to cut through the noise to share the great things that happen in Aberdeen. They therefore focus on community, culture and the interesting people of the city. The local artists, businesses and charities; photographers, musicians and entertainers; the people at a local level that make a positive impact on our city each and every day. So they use video, audio, writing and social media to amplify the voices in our community, and to ultimately give a platform to Aberdeen folk to engage and tell their own stories.

Recent work includes interviews with We Are Here Scotland founder Ica Headlam; Paralympic gold medalist, Neil Fachie; Chef, an Aberdeen rapper who is pushing for success; an article by film director Mark Stirton about the state of high-rise buildings in the city; coverage of Nuart Aberdeen and TEDx Aberdeen, as well as coverage of British Art Show 9.

So visit postabdn.com now to read a great selection of interviews and articles.