East Herts Eco Film Fest.

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Permalink Reply by Iain Bagnall on April 25, 2010 at 9:53

I couldn't agree more. It was a fantastic day - thank you to everyone for organising it.
It was great to meet some like-minded people and Wenderlynn and I look forward to getting involved in the group.

As for next year, I think the main focus should be on getting more people through the door to raise awareness even further.

Perhaps some local independents like Serendipity, Proper Cornish, Farrow & Farrow etc would join in and make it a small-scale Hertford-wide festival, rather than it being just held at the castle.

Many people would have parked in the multi-storey yesterday and walked around Hertford market and shops, without realising the film festival was even going on at all.

Maybe other local businesses could be persuaded to display posters, bunting, balloons, information etc and encourage people to go across to the film festival, perhaps even provide free bits of food to lure people in - offering mini ice creams or pasties, chocolates or cakes might tempt even more people through the doors.

If customers at some of Hertford's shops were asked "have you gone over to Castle Hall for the eco film festival? There's lots going on all day. Go over there and get your free FairTrade chocolate bar " I'm sure it would provide a few more visitors.

After all, people love stuff - that's the problem, but it can also be used to address the problem.

Cheers,
Iain.

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Permalink Reply by Wenderlynn Jane Bagnall on April 25, 2010 at 19:52

Thanks Carolyn and everyone for a very enjoyable and informative day. It has certainty opened my eyes up and I thought they were already open. The films made quite an impact on me I have to say. I agree with Iain that getting the local independent shops to put up posters is a good idea, perhaps even persuade them to support the event by providing wares such as Church Farm did. ( I hope they will do so again next year).

It would be good to see the younger generation there so how about encouraging the local schools and college to raise awareness by doing events at the schools or wherever which then lead up to the festival and the schools can then highlight what they have been doing as part of the event by having some kind of representation there. Encourage the parents to get involved as much as possible with their children/teenagers and put on some kind of a five or ten minute show expressing how they feel about issues such as peak oil.

I didn't see anyone for East Herts there...? did i miss this representation?? They could do a workshop showing people what they can and can't recycle locally and informing why they can and can't and what they plan to do in the future to make sure we can recycle just about everything.

How about getting an allotment association to attend? Organisations such as Greenpeace might even be able to offer support and Hertford Fairtrade group or is this going to far away from the transition idea?

I think the Castle Hall is a great place to hold this event especially whilst it is still getting under way but wondered if in the future the castle grounds can be included.

I'd be happy to help organise next year's event. If I think of anything else I'll let you know.

Wenderlynn

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Permalink Reply by Ben on April 25, 2010 at 20:03

Agree with all the comments so far. And I think Rob and EHC are going to schedule a meeting in the next couple of weeks to begin planning next year's event. Perhaps we can get some discussion of this going at the AGM in May (see Events page).

Rob and Trish say that we had around 320 people through the doors during the day, which is excellent!

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Permalink Reply by Wenderlynn Jane Bagnall on April 25, 2010 at 20:36

Just a thought, I know the aim is to encourage people's way of thinking into a more sustainable way of life but I wonder about the name Eco FilmFest? It's a great idea but unfortunately people still haven't got used to the idea of what Eco stands for. It's a bit like Fairtrade clothing, people want it to be 'sexy' excuse the term. Fairtrade has started to go this way and now the clothes are starting to attract a different type of individual.

I only mention this way of thinking as I have found working with young people you have to try to appeal to them and work with them rather than try to encourage them into our way of thinking, a bit like reverse psychology. Please don't think of this as a negative comment. It's only a suggestion.

Wenderlynn

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Permalink Reply by carolyn westlake on April 26, 2010 at 7:46

I agree that Eco Film Festival might be a bit off putting for some people who a) may not fully understand the term or b) may not identify themselves as "eco" anything. Language is so important and we need to get it right to be able to reach out to different groups of people in Hertford. I too would like to see younger people involved.

I believe there was a rationale behind why it was decided not to involve local shops this time. Could anyone who was on the committee explain what the thinking behind this was? : )

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Permalink Reply by Jane Chaplin on April 26, 2010 at 8:53

Yes I agree it was a great day and there was a real buzz in the foyer and the children's workshops, and lots of good conversations going on all day.
For a build up in schools it needs to be timed better. One week in to the new term is not best timing.

I'm looking forward to seeing what was posted in the Forest of Ideas.

Another time we must have a roving mike so that we can have proper discussion. If that's not yet possible in Castle Hall, can it be included in their refurbishment?

Thanks to so many people for making the day work so well.

Jane :)

carolyn westlake said:

I agree that Eco Film Festival might be a bit off putting for some people who a) may not fully understand the term or b) may not identify themselves as "eco" anything. Language is so important and we need to get it right to be able to reach out to different groups of people in Hertford. I too would like to see younger people involved.
I believe there was a rationale behind why it was decided not to involve local shops this time. Could anyone who was on the committee explain what the thinking behind this was? : )

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Permalink Reply by Nathan Surendran on April 26, 2010 at 15:41

I've posted the links to the films shown in a blog post - Film Festival Programme, so people can review them at their leisure / catch up on any they missed due to hyperactive toddlers, etc, and also perhaps any thoughts on specific films in the comments section of that page.

Hope that is useful.

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Permalink Reply by Iain Bagnall on April 27, 2010 at 12:27

Thanks for that Nathan.

I have been looking online for the short film that kept being mentioned called "What If?", which we didn't get round to watching. I found some short films with that title on a few sites but none looked right.

Here is a link to another site that has similar films available to view that might be of interest to people:
http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/category/environment/

Cheers,
Iain.

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