New to the Spectacle Archive

Interviews from the Waffle Bank shoot with Refugee Youth are now available via the Spectacle Archive.

Waffle Bank Investment Bank is a skill exchange programme using Belgian waffles as currency.  The process encourages participants to consider what  skills they bring to the table and find ways to connect and share these.

Watch the interviews now.

Details about the Micromomics project are now available, visit the Project Page for more details.

Watch all Micronomics clips.

Learn about the group Bicycology which features in the project. Watch the Bicycology interviews.

Information about Cycle Training UK and watch the interviews.

New to the Spectacle Archive

Footage from the Q&A from the Outside the Law: Stories from Guantánamo screening at the National Film Theatre, Southbank is now available via the Spectacle Archive.

The Q&A featured Polly Nash, Gareth Peirce and Andy Worthington, and was chaired by Victoria Brittain.

Also available are interviews from the event.

If you are interested in organising a screening in your area contact us now.

Find screenings near you.

Outside the Law: Stories from Guantánamo is available to purchase now, click here for more details.

Find out more about Spectacle’s Guantánamo Project

Visit our Archive for extra interviews and more

Find out more about Outside the Law: Stories from Guantanamo

New to the Spectacle Archive

Interviews and footage from Spectacle’s Micronomics Project is now available through our Archive.

Micronomics investigates an understanding of small scale self-organised (micro-)initiatives and whether the economy has room for them.

The film considers their potential to challenge the dominant definition of ‘the economy’ and implication, when the value created and exchanged is of social nature.

Details about the project are now available, visit the Project Page for more details.

Watch all clips associated with Micronomics.

Learn about the group Bicycology which features in the project. Watch the Bicycology interviews.

Information about Cycle Training UK and watch the interviews.

Clips from Spectacle’s Waffle Bank shoot with Refugee Youth will also be uploaded to the archive.

New to the Spectacle Archive

Interview with Vito.

With his family’s burger van in danger Vito talks to Spectacle about his worries.

WATCH Vito’s Interview.

For details on our Battersea Power Station Project visit Spectacle’s Project Page.

To watch interviews and more visit Spectacle’s Archive.

New to the Spectacle Archive

From gracing the covers of a Pink Floyd album to dominating the Skyline of London, Battersea Power Station is one of the capital’s greatest cultural icons. Yet since being decomissioned in 1983, the building has steadily deteriorated while waiting for development plans to come into fruition. Spectacle has been following the ongoing proposed plans for the iconic building.

Now available on Spectacle’s Archive page is footage from Control Room A and Control Room B within the Power Station.

Footage from the REO Exhibit including interviews with local residents (Alan and Terry)  is also available.

More on the Battersea Power Station Project.

For more interviews and extras visit the Spectacle Archive.

New to the Spectacle Archive

Land is Ours

In 1996 campaigners from ‘The Land is Ours’ occupied the river front site of an old distillery and oil depot on York Road, London SWl1, Wandsworth. Building a sustainable Eco village with gardens and public amenities.

Today, however on the site of the “Pure Genius” Land is Ours Eco Village stands Battersea Reach flats.

There is new footage of the site 15 years on, as well as the original film from 1996 now on the Spectacle Archive page:

Land is Ours Guiness site in 2010 – 2010

Land is Ours Wandsworth Bridge 1996 Pure Genius!!

New to the Spectacle Active Archive:

Demo against the Killing of Ruhullah Aramesh in Thornton Heath in 1992

Ruhullah Aramesh, a twenty-four years old, Afghan refugee was attacked in Thornton Heath on July 31, 1992, by a gang of twenty yelling racist epithets. They beat him with iron bars and wood planks until his skull was crushed.

His death was just one of many that occured near or around the BNP head quarters in South East London. A horrific string of racist attacks

This is particularly relevant as there has been new evidence regarding the Stephen Lawrence case.

There is footage of the march and speeches by speakers representing:

Croydon Race and Equality Council ,

Refugees Ad-hoc Committee f0r Asylum Rights RACAR ,

Rohit Duggal Family Campaign

Weyman Bennett Anti-Nazi League

Labour Councillor from Croydon North West.

Can you help?

The speakers are announced but it is difficult to work out exactly their names or how to spell them, so if you have any idea of who they are please let us know.

Lance Forman is managing director of H Forman & Son, a salmon smoking factory, that has been based in East London for over 100 years. In these interviews he speaks about the obstacles his business has had to overcome in connection with the Olympics.

After having build a brand new factory with a grand by the LDA, H Forman & Son were faced with a compulsory puchase order by LDA and the task to relocate, along with 250 other businesses.

Part 1 deals with the history of the factory and the bad luck the company has faced during the past 10 years.
Part 2 is an account of the negotiations and dealings with the LDA
Part 3 takes a different view on the Olympic Legacy
Part 4 talks about the public presentation of the Olympics
Part 5 is the story of the search for a suitable site for a new factory
Part 6 tells about the last obstacles that had to be overcome when building the new factory

The Unteachables, Channel 4 – A programme format is a license to produce and to broadcast a
national version of a copyrighted foreign television programme and to use its name

Programme formats are a major part of the international television market and they keep growing in popularity. With 11.6 million viewers previous Saturday X- Factor is a great example of the public’s desire for these type of programmes. The broadcasters love them too because of the large cost savings associated with avoiding the risk of inventing something original.

The most common type of formats are those in the genre of game shows, which quite often are remade in multiple markets with local contestants. Other key examples than X-Factor are Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, Survivor and Big Brother. However, there are also examples of documentaries as formats such as The Unteachables which Spectacle has been involved with.

On paper, formats don’t leave much room for creativity, nevertheless these programmes still seem to be executed differently in different countries. Does this mean that a TV format is a complex cultural product that cannot simply be reduced to a mere mechanical reproduction of a purchased TV programme? This might be a reasonable hypothesis when comparing The Unteachables with the Danish version of the programme titled Plan B.

Plan B, TV2 – the Danish version of The Unteachables

On the surface, the two versions of the programme seem quite similar. In both countries school children take part in a ground-breaking educational experiment investigating whether the school system is at fault, or the children are simply unteachable. In both cases the outcome of the experiment is positive: With the right teacher and learning methods by their side, even the worst behaved children can overcome their attendance problems.

However, when taking a closer look at the two versions, differences still occur – the two titles demonstrate this to great extent. Whereas the English version focuses on suspended school children the Danish one focuses on those children lacking confidence in school. Furthermore, in the English version the editing speed is faster and there is more focus on the children heavily using swear words.

How come these differences occur in the same programme format? Surely, a program will be executed differently by different producers, but is this a sign of the English media’s wish or need to be sensational and tabloid in order to attract greater audiences? It might also be worth taking into account the type of channels the programmes were broadcast on. The Danish channel TV2 prides itself on being an inclusive channel with the aim of unifying the public. On TV2 there are only winners – not losers.

Does this explain the differences or are the two school systems just too different to compare? Did Channel 4 portray a neutral picture of the English school system? Or do you think it is driven by sensational stories?

What about the Danish version? Is that a great example of how the school system operates in this country? Or is it too glorifying?

Have you experienced other versions of The Unteachables in other countries and how was the school system portrayed there?

You can find out more about Spectacle’s Class X project commissioned by Channel 4 to accompany the Unteachables series or order the DVD from distribution@spectacle.co.uk

The clips from the Class X project that once featured on the Channel 4 website as The Unteachables is now accessible on Spectacle’s homepage.

The clips were made for Channel Four Online in connection with the TV series ‘The Unteachables’. The idea was to contribute to the debate on education from the point of view of school kids.

To commemorate Black History Month, we would like to promote the clip ‘Diversity in History’.