< Back to '24th August 2022' briefing
August 23, 2022
Take One Action
In amongst the festival frenzy that overwhelms Edinburgh at this time of year (at least 6 major festivals simultaneously underway) one relatively small festival that always punches well above its weight took the opportunity this week to launch its programme. Over four weekends during September and October, in four cities across Scotland, Take One Action Film Festival aims to inspire social change and activism with its programme that showcases international documentary and film makers. This year’s Festival explores land as a medium for wielding power and its capacity for violence and resistance in all its forms – including foraging.
The 15th edition of the UK’s leading global change film festival will take on a different format this year, with four weekends of in-person screenings, workshops and conversations taking place in Edinburgh (16-18 Sep); Glasgow (23-25 Sep); Aberdeen (21-23 Oct); and Inverness (28-30 Oct) – with an additional selection of online events and digital opportunities for engagement.
Examining ‘land’ as material, as power, and as terrain for violence and resistance, this year’s Take One Action programme looks to the earth beneath our feet – while dreaming of new ways to inhabit it. Charting connections between Palestinian foraging practices and Filipino land defence, migrant justice in the UK and radical mycology, the line-up invites audiences – across Scotland and online – to unearth networks of solidarity across all kinds of borders – and envisioning our embeddedness within them
Key highlights:
- Scottish premiere of Foragers followed by a spoken word performance by Scottish-Palestinian writer and performer Amira Al-Shanti
- Scottish premieres of Delikado and The Mushroom Speaks
- Coming Down to Earth – a new specially-curated audio documentary by Edinburgh-based artist Tanatsei Gambura
- A free radical mycology workshop by urban mushroom farmers Rhyze Mushrooms in response to The Mushroom Speaks (Scottish Premiere)
- An online programme of shorts exploring women’s relationships to (home)land, featuring two films from Scotland alongside films from Barbados, Tanzania, Colombia.
- An online Director’s Masterclass with Palestinian artist / filmmaker Jumana Manna – presented in collaboration with Scottish Documentary Institute
- Screenings of Foragers in the Screen Machine on Tiree and Lochgilphead, as well as in the four festival cities.
Each in-person screening is presented alongside a live or pre-recorded conversation. Bonus online content includes campaigning resources and specially-commissioned reflections on films in the programme from young / aspiring writers.
Access:
We are pleased to keep building on our accessibility provision year on year. Our commitments include:
- All films and pre-recorded Q&As have descriptive subtitles
- Live BSL interpretation at our opening and closing night events in Edinburgh and Glasgow
- Tickets available on a pay-what-you-can basis across all venues
- Travel, childcare and data fund
- Content notes are available for each film.
- Detailed access notes are available on each individual film page on the TOA website.
Partnerships:
Developed with the invaluable support of long-term TOA partners (Oxfam, Christian Aid and Global Justice Now) as well as media partner The Skinny. Excited to be working with SDI (masterclass with Jumana Manna) and Lighthouse Books (‘Watch, Read, Think, Act’ reading list series)
Practical info:
- All films are available on a pay-what-you-can basis, whether in person or online, across all venues (£0-10)
- All films screenings with captions
- Edinburgh venues: Filmhouse and Grassmarket Community Project
- Glasgow venues: GFT and CCA
- Aberdeen: Belmont Filmhouse
- Inverness: Eden Court