Abingdon News No.58

Abingdon News The Abingdon Film Unit One of the School’s Other Half activities. Founded in 2003, the AFU allows students to make their own films with guidance from industry professionals. To date, AFU filmmakers have produced 183 films, many of which have won awards and been screened at festivals around the world. AFU students make all sorts of films, including fictions and animations, but they began with a focus on documentaries, as the AFU’s co-founder was director and OA, Michael Grigsby (1936-2013). Mike was a renowned documentarist who also kick-started Abingdon’s filmmaking as a pupil in the 1950s. The greatest impact of Mike’s teaching was his encouragement to look outwards, and interrogate the world around you - inspired by his experiences at Granada TV in Manchester, where he encountered a very different environment from the one he knew here. The effect of Mike’s teaching was immediate: three students shot a film on the streets of Oxford about the city’s homeless people. Mike’s concern for “giving voice to the voiceless” has led AFU students in many unexpected directions. In 2006, a crew travelled to Cambodia to make Gravel and Stones, a film about the stigma faced by disabled people in a country emerging from civil war. In 2009, another team travelled to Moldova to make One Foot on the Ground, a film about growing up in Europe’s poorest country. The AFU not only helps students master the technicalities of filmmaking, but also empathise with others. As Jonas Mortensen, former tutor and BAFTA- winning cinematographer said, “The AFU is not just about making filmmakers; it’s about making good people.” From the start, the AFU worked with students in other schools, mindful that the opportunity to work with professional filmmakers is both rare and invaluable. Early collaborations involved St Marylebone School in London and Wheatley Park School in Oxfordshire, with whom we founded the New Shoots Festival - attended on one occasion by the current Prime Minister. More recently, as part of Abingdon’s commitment to developing town-wide partnerships, we’ve established the Abingdon Film Academy, AFA, to allow pupils at partner schools to work with us. As well as using the medium of film to learn about the world, the AFU/AFA allows students to learn about themselves, and what it takes to make something. Filmmaking is hard; even a ten-minute film takes students a year to complete. For some, the experience is life-changing. There’s an ever-growing list of AFU alumni working in film and television, and in time, we hope they’ll be joined by Academy alumni. As the AFU marks its eighteenth year, it continues to evolve. In partnership with sports broadcaster Olly Hogben, we’ve launched the Oxfordshire Academy of Broadcast Journalism to offer online sessions for 50 students across the town in podcasting, presenting and blogging. Olly’s aspiration is to “democratize the media”. It calls to mind a tribute to the AFU by actor, OA and former AFU member, Alex Mugnaioni, who urged us to “keep changing the world, one short film at a time”. AFA & John Mason student Gena Clarke directing Abingdon 5th year actor Rory Kind in her music video, shot on the Amey Theatre stage. Olly Hogben leading the first online session Learning how to light an interview, March 2021 Still from one of the tutors’ How to videos, to help students during lockdown Oxfordshire Academy of Broadcast Journalism 18 September 2021