Cashback | Tipping Point North South

Spotlight News

Welcome to our latest newsletter… the summer is almost over and we’ve packed a whole lot of stuff in. But before we start with our update we’d like to highlight a new and exciting TPFF venture – the launch of our very own film club!

New film club starts with ‘Life and Debt’

The TPFF Film Club – which we’re launching at The Lexi Cinema in Kensal Rise on 20 Sept – will be a regular event where TPFF supporters, relevant NGO networks and the general public can get together to watch a specifically chosen feature-documentary (usually related to the news agenda and campaigning) and enjoy a lively panel discussion or Q&A with guest speakers. The event will be free to TPFF regular givers and one-off annual donors of £60 or more. To find out more about our first screening – Stephanie Black’s award-winning documentary Life and Debt – and panel discussion ‘when will rich countries own up to their responsibility in keeping developing nations poor in order to grow their own wealth?’ visit our website or watch the trailer. The panel includes the broadcaster and academic, Dr Robert Beckford; the Director of Jubilee Debt Campaign, Nick Dearden and Dr Patricia Daley, lecturer in Human Geography at Oxford University.

TPFF summer round-up

Over the summer we teamed up with Dogwoof and the solar-powered Groovy Movie Picture House and held screenings at Glastonbury, Lounge on the Farm and The Wickham Festival. We screened Great African Scandal for UNITE trade union, and in association with the brilliant Lexi Cinema, we hosted a sold-out screening and panel discussion of Oliver Stone’s ‘South of the Border’. We also had a great time at the 25,000 strong Greenbelt Arts Festival where we hosted four screenings and Q&As over three days – to find out more about the films and speakers, including a video-message from Jeremy Hardy, visit our website.

Ones to watch!

No Impact Man – September

No Impact Man (guilty New York liberal, Colin Beavan, decides to completely eliminate his personal impact on the environment for a year) will be hitting cinemas around the country from 3rd September. Watch the trailer at www.noimpactdoc.com or to find a screening near you go to Dogwoof.

Budrus – September

Budrusthemovie follows a Palestinian leader who manages to unite Fatah, Hamas and Israelis in an unarmed movement to save his village from destruction. Success appears to elude him until his 15-year-old daughter jumps into the fray. Another Dogwoof film released 24 September.

Collapse – October

Collapse is an astonishing portrait of radical thinker Michael Ruppert – exploring his apocalyptic vision of the future, spanning the crises in economics, energy, environment and more.

Project news

The Road to Bethlehem

We are delighted to have secured the grant support of the charitable arm of McCabe Travel – a company specialising in pilgrimages to the Holy Land. McCabe’s support will enable the post-production costs of ‘The Road to Bethlehem’ to be met. McCabe Travel will also be an outreach partner on the film in 2011 and we very much look forward to our collaboration highlighting the need for visitors to go to Palestine to witness as well as appreciate all that its people have to share.

‘The Road to Bethlehem’ is in final stages of editing and we are now turning our attention to raising funds for the international outreach campaign to accompany the film on its release in 2011. Find out about our latest fund-raising initiative and how you can help us to raise money by hosting your own screenings! Watch the latest clip from Leila Sansour to find out why this is important, and if you need any more encouragement find out what Jeremy Hardy had to say at the Greenbelt Arts Festival.

Cashback

TPFF is part of the effort to raise production funding for ‘Cashback’ a film by Marc and Nick Francis. The film will tell the story of how money is drained out of developing countries by a network of bankers, accountants, and lawyers into secret, off-shore Western bank accounts, undermining the lives of millions of people. If you would like to know more or donate to the film’s funding, contact us at info@tippingpointfilmfund.com. In the meantime, Marc and Nick’s latest film ‘When China Met Africa’ was screened as part of the BBC’s Storyville strand in July – you can find out more here! To find out more about Tax Justice visit The Tax Justice Network, Christian Aid or Action Aid.

Save the date – Tipping Point screenings

Monday 20th September, TPFF Film Club at The Lexi Cinema (Kensal Rise, London), screening of ‘Life and Debt’ followed by panel discussion. To find out more about the film and the panel discussion ‘when will rich countries own up to their responsibility in keeping developing nations poor in order to grow their own wealth?’ click here, or to buy your ticket go to The Lexi Cinema. Tickets are free to TPFF regular givers!

Tuesday 26th October, Inn on the Green (Ladbroke Grove, London)

A screening of ‘Inside the Revolution: a journey into the heart of Venezuela’. This 2009 film will be followed by Q&A with the director Pablo Navarrete. Please check our website in the next few weeks for more details.

‘…a rare film about Venezuela, a country in extraordinary transition. Watch this film because it is honest and fair and respectful of those who want to be told the truth about an epic attempt, flaws and all, to claim back the humanity of ordinary people.” – John Pilger (Journalist, author and documentary filmmaker).

Monday 29 November, TPFF Film Club, The Lexi Cinema (Kensal Rise, London)

Programme tbc. Admission free to TPFF regular givers!

And later this week….

Good Pitch UK 2010

Friday 10th September (London)

Observer Passes now on sale! The Good Pitch brings together documentary filmmakers with NGOs, foundations, philanthropies, brands and media around leading social issues – to forge coalitions and campaigns that are good for all these partners, good for the films and good for society. Find out more at Good Pitch UK.

Well, that’s all from us folks and very much hope to see some of you on the 20th!

With best wishes,

from Debs, Emma, Jen and us all at Tipping Point Film Fund

PS – Find out more about joining our network of regular givers – 360

Wow – what an exciting few weeks. Here, we were on the edge of our second-hand seats (thanks Stop Climate Chaos for the free chairs), as election fever unfurled, parliament was hung, the Prime Minister resigned, and a new, never-would-have-thought-it government formed. Ironically, on the night the Con-Lib Dem deal was finally struck, we saw One Night in Turin – a James Erskine film documenting the violence and hooliganism of British soccer fans during the last years of Thatcher’s government, and how Bobby Robson’s 1990 World Cup Team united a nation in disgrace. Plus, we also liked give your vote, a brilliant idea by film-maker, political researcher and our colleague James Sadri – giving citizens in Afghanistan, Ghana and Bangladesh the opportunity to vote in the UK General Election.

In the midst of these changing political times, we’re looking forward to the summer festival scene! In association with Good With Film we’ll be screening some of the best docs of 2009 & 2010 – including Burma VJ, Dirty Oil and The Yes Men Fix the World. Thanks to the solar powered Groovy Movie Picture House we’ll have a great cinematic and ‘green’ venue at Glastonbury, Lounge on the Farm (Canterbury) and Stokes Bay (Wickham). And at the Greenbelt Arts Festival in Cheltenham, late August, we’ll have films and panel discussions a plenty. Do keep an eye on our website for programme plans and screening times.

Essential Viewing

In the Land of the Free tells the compelling story of US prisoners Herman Wallace, Albert Woofox and Robert King, between them, sentenced to almost a century in solitary confinement for a crime the evidence suggests they probably didn’t commit. Today, Herman and Albert are still being held in solitary confinement. The film tells their personal story, documents the campaign for justice, and follows the legal case to free the final two. Log on to www.inthelandofthefreefilm.com for trailer and screening info.

The Alberta Tar Sands is big-doc news again as the new Peter Mettler film, Petropolis is released this month – another one from The Co-operative and Dogwoof. Shot primarily from a helicopter, Mettler takes us on hypnotic flight of image and sound across giant oil reserves, where Canadian wilderness meets large-scale industrial efforts with devastating impacts on the environment. Effects that will be felt far beyond Alberta. To watch the trailer, order the DVD, or to take action log on to www.petropolis-film.com. Plus, as part of the campaign, The Co-operative are offering £500 for the most creative idea (posters, short-films, photos or animations) to highlight the issue.

We haven’t seen this one yet but it looks right up our street. Bananas the movie follows Juan “Accidentes” Dominguez on his biggest case ever. On behalf of twelve Nicaraguan banana workers he is tackling Dole Food in a ground-breaking legal battle for their use of a banned pesticide that was known by the company to cause sterility. Watch the trailer www.bananasthemovie.com

Project News

The Road to Bethlehem
Leila Sansour’s film is now moving towards the final stage of editing. At the same time, we are now starting to plan the outreach campaign that will accompany The Road to Bethlehem. We also continue to raise funds for post production as well as outreach and have recently secured a further £10k towards the film’s completion budget. Click here to find out what Leila’s been up to and the latest from Bethlehem.

Cashback
As the development of Cashback progresses, the story around tax and developing countries continues to be a lively issue. ‘Blowing the Whistle: Time’s Up for Financial Secrecy’, a new report from Cashback supporter and development agency Christian Aid, reveals how the same tax-haven secrecy that allows football club owners to hide their business practices – and even their identities – is also facilitating massive tax dodging in developing countries. To download the report or find out what you can do visit Christian Aid. And if you want a simple intro to why tax matters to developing nations check out this video by Global Financial Integrity.

Want to support Tipping Point Film Fund?

Volunteer at the festivals this summer! We need you for a couple of hours at Glastonbury, Lounge on the Farm, Stokes Bay and Greenbelt. If you’re already going and would like to get involved, drop us a line

Run a film night for a good cause! Good screenings will calculate the cost of your film licence according to who you are, where you screen and how many people you’re screening to. Any profits you make can be kept by you, your organisation, campaign or cause – including TPFF!

Support challenging films that inspire campaigning by visiting our website to make a donation, follow us on Twitter or become a fan of our page on Facebook.

Dates for your diary

Co-operative Fortnight, 19 June to 3 July
For 14 days, up and down the country, co-operatives like TPFF will be promoting their work! Find out what’s happening near you.

Glastonbury (25-26 June), Lounge on the Farm (10-11 July) and Stokes Bay (6-7 August)
Join TPFF at the Groovy Movie Picture House. We’ll be showing Burma VJ, Dirty Oil and The Yes Men Fix the World. Check out our website for screening times.

Screening of Great African Scandal plus Q&A, 29 June at 6.30pm
Unite Trade Union, Venture Community Centre, 103a Wornington Road, W10 5YB
Near Ladbroke Grove Tube Station

Greenbelt Arts Festival, 27-30 August
Check out our website for details of films and speakers nearer the time.

And Finally

We’d like to wish you a very happy May and June and we hope the sun comes out to brighten your day.

With best wishes,
from Deborah, Emma, Thea and all at Tipping Point Film Fund.
PS Keep a look out for news of our brand new 360 film club – coming soon!