Log in
Nicola McCartney's work as a practitioner of Applied Theatre has had impacts on civil society, education, and cultural life, contributing to transforming society by directly benefitting both vulnerable groups and theatre professionals internationally. Via her work with Rachel's House, a prisoner re-entry programme in Ohio, 7 women ex-offenders and 8 members of staff benefitted from McCartney's use of dramatic narrative as the basis for therapeutic interventions and to facilitate the integration of disenfranchised groups into mainstream communities. 80 Theatre professionals in Russia, and pupils and teachers from 8 Moscow schools, have also benefitted from training in McCartney's Applied Theatre methods, providing them with a new and innovative way of working with disenfranchised groups and individuals.
David Alamouti's documentary films have impacted on `Civil Society', `Cultural life' and `Public Discourse' in the socio-political domain via innovative approaches to the documentary genre. His contribution to diaspora studies is internationally recognised and evidenced by several awards. Public benefit is claimed through stimulating public discourse, new approaches to creative practice, contributions to public fora policy debates, economic benefit via the creation of an acclaimed film production company: Contra-Image. Screenings of his work by the BBC, Al Jazeera, Sky and Russia 24, in addition to film festivals, have brought diverse and often antagonistic audiences together to debate highly sensitive issues.
REBOUND is an interactive, media-based drug prevention programme targeted at young people in Europe. Researchers at the University of Greenwich worked with young people to redesign the curriculum and materials for a British audience and produce a series of short educational films which are being used in the programme's resilience training. Preliminary results show a reduction in drug and alcohol harm amongst participants including a drop in binge drinking, reduced cannabis use, increased search for help and greater harm reduction knowledge. After using the films, young people are making their own videos as educational tools to pass on their learning.
Conceived, directed and edited by Clio Barnard, The Arbor (2010) explores the life, work, and legacy of the playwright Andrea Dunbar. Among many other prizes and nominations, the film won the Grierson Trust Award for Best Cinema Documentary, and The Guardian First Film Award, both in 2011. It has achieved a wide-ranging and significant impact, informing public debate, transforming the lives of those depicted in and working on the film, bolstering cultural heritage in West Yorkshire, generating sustainable employment in the film industry, influencing fellow filmmakers and making a significant contribution to UK cultural life.
John Wyver's research on strategies for creative adaptation of theatre and opera to the screen has had an impact on cultural life, on the economic prosperity of UK cultural sector, and on education. His practice-based research on television adaptations of contemporary opera and Shakespeare plays has been central to British television's presentation of performance since 2008. This research has led to a spend of more than £3 million in British independent television production. His productions have been the focus for significant educational initiatives by the BBC and The Open University. From 2012 he has been engaged as Media Associate by the Royal Shakespeare Company in order to embed his research within their activities and develop a future strategy.
Elliott, Haillay and Young are central to our research in film-making. Theirs is a socially-engaged but elegiac cinema of contemporary times. Elliott (writer and director), Haillay (producer) and Young (writer/producer) have, over the REF period, collaborated with one another, and with others, to create an influential body of work. The innovative approaches to narrative and the visual beauty of their cinematography have had an important impact on cinema audiences nationally, even more so internationally. They have participated in numerous international film festivals and won awards. With new productions currently at an advanced stage, the trajectory of their research is still upward. The standing of their backers and finance-providers attest to their growing international prestige, and audiences for their work continue to grow.
The range, quantity and quality of Hispanic theatre production, film exhibition and cultural understanding in the UK has been significantly enhanced by the research on Spanish-language stage and screen cultures by Professor Maria Delgado (at QMUL since 1997). The body of knowledge she has generated has led to significant impact in three key areas: i) opening up public discourse on Hispanic cultures; ii) improving the programming and circulation of Spanish-language theatre and film; and iii) contributing to creative and economic prosperity through consultancy and advocacy in the creative industries in the UK and Spain.
Northern Lights was a University of Edinburgh research project that engaged members of the Scottish public in documenting their lives on camera. Its objective was to create a novel, multi-perspective documentary portrait of the Scottish nation in 2012. The project had enormous scope: press and media impact reached over 4 million people. Northern Lights made its impact by empowering the 1,500 individuals who contributed video portraits to explore issues such as addiction, disabilities and mental health. Northern Lights thus opened up a unique opportunity for participants to represent their experience, voicing, for themselves and for a wider, national audience, often poorly understood and neglected sectors of society.
The Enchanted Palace was a collaborative project between theatre company WildWorks and Historic Royal Palaces (HRP). It transformed the State Apartments at Kensington Palace into an interactive exhibition (26 March 2010 — 1 June 2012) which brought the stories and the palace to life.
The Enchanted Palace enabled Kensington Palace to remain open during a two-year £12 million refurbishment. The project brought in income, safeguarded jobs and drew in new audiences. Thirteen community groups, schools and colleges were involved in its creation while 10 high-profile designers were invited to create work in response to the stories of the palace. The Enchanted Palace increased the numbers of Palace visitors (even during this refurbishment period) and was widely covered in the press featuring on the International Council of Museums website www.clothestellstories.com as an example of good practice.
The MyStreet project explores a new collaborative anthropology by training and facilitating filmmakers in in using techniques some of which were inspired by study of Mass Observation. This is achieved through a competition and online film archive with a global audience, and the annual Open City Docs film festival which has led to new partnerships with private and community organisations, and inspired a similar project in Prague. Through DocinaDay, about 350 students and community groups from high-exclusion areas received training in filmmaking and a screening platform, with positive impacts on social cohesion and individual welfare.