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Stories of Healing 60
min
brings together the voices of those who have
experienced trauma or other life challenges, but have used creative
means to heal. Interviews, artwork, and puppetry illuminate the
pathways they have chosen to navigate and make new meaning from their
experiences. Interviewees collaborated with puppeteers to share their
experience of healing through individual film segments, using shadow
animations and |
other forms of puppetry. The film shines a light on how
artistic expression
can
help with recovery from trauma and illness, as well as raising
awareness about the issues each of the interviewees has faced. An
emotionally moving and visually striking film for general audiences,
Stories of Healing can also be used as an educational tool for art
therapists, psychologists and other professionals working in the
healing community.
Charlie Ryder
is a puppeteer, creative
producer,
and collaborator. In 1995 he was sent to prison for 16 months for his
part in a violent protest against racism. While in prison he kept a
scrapbook to record his journey which he later developed into a one man
play to share his prison experience. Working with puppeteers Raven
Kaliana, Richard
Mansfield, and Tony
Sinnett, Charlie paints a picture
of his journey from prison to the freedom of healing and forgiveness.
Joni-Rae Carrack
- 'Invisible' explores
her
personal experience of anxiety. The film provides understanding of the
physical and emotional effects of a long-term illness, and how just
talking about it can help to relieve the pressure. This was made before
Joni suffered a breakdown, one which led to medical intervention that
finally led her onto a road to recovery.
Raven Kaliana,
a puppeteer and puppet
maker, was
trafficked for sexual exploitation throughout her childhood. She
escaped through going off to university, and now runs an arts-based
organisation to help others called Outspiral. In her interview, she
recounts the ways in which creative expression played a role in
processing the trauma, building a healthy and supportive social
network, and creating a joyful, meaningful life. She directs
puppet-based plays and films, and has used her autobiographical film
for adults, Hooray for Hollywood, for social change work around the
globe.
Sabrina Daniele, a puppet maker and puppeteer,
takes the viewer through a
process of finding healing through the art of puppetry and nature, in a
segment written by Charlie
Ryder, 'The Art of Healing.'
Darren Horsnell
joined the Royal Artillery
aged
17 and saw military service in Northern Ireland and the Falklands.
Darren experienced post-traumatic stress throughout his time in the
army. He discovered a talent for painting through art therapy at
Tyrwhitt House, a Surrey treatment centre. Darren now teaches art with
a group called Veterans in communities which is based in Lancashire. In
the film, Darren shares about how his counselling and art therapy has
transformed his life. Shadow puppeteer Richard Mansfield
has created a
beautiful animation of Darren's story.
Sue Hanisch
is an
internationally respected public speaker providing insight into
post-traumatic stress for audiences around the world, has participated
on the Forgiveness Project, and has earned a pilot's
license. Sue was
gravely injured in an IRA bombing in 1991 at Victoria station in
London, so her knowledge of trauma recovery is personal as well as
professional. Sue works as a counsellor using the Human
Givens approach, as
well as offering occupational therapy for trauma survivors. Puppeteer
Raven Kaliana illustrated Sue's concepts on
post-traumatic stress with shadow puppetry to help people understand
the physical and emotional effects of trauma, and to show practical
approaches for recovery.
Nina Danon,
composer, and
electronic music
duo After Crash,
got involved at the early stages of the creation of
Stories
of Healing to develop the soundtrack of the film. After meeting the
artists' and viewing the first drafts of the various videos, they
orientated their research on the link between music and the healing
process, exploring through their compositions how the link between
sounds and visuals affects our feelings, enhancing the emotional
journey of each story. |
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The
Art of Ubuntu(62 Min.)
shines a light on artists around the world
who are
using or have used art to explore love, reconciliation and healing.
Each of the storytellers collaborated with different puppeteers to
share their story.
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The
South African Nobel Laureate Archbishop
Desmond Tutu describes Ubuntu as:
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"...the
essence of being human. It speaks of the fact that my humanity is
caught up and is inextricably bound up in yours. I am human because I
belong. It speaks about wholeness; it speaks about compassion. A
person with Ubuntu is welcoming, hospitable, warm and generous,
willing to share. Such people are open and available to others,
willing to be vulnerable, affirming of others, do not feel threatened
that others are able and good, for they have a proper self-assurance
that comes from knowing that they belong in a greater whole. They
know that they are diminished when others are humiliated, diminished
when others are oppressed, diminished when others are treated as if
they were less than who they are. The quality of Ubuntu gives people
resilience, enabling them to survive and emerge still human despite
all efforts to dehumanize them."
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Interviews:
Sonia
'Sunny' Jacobs and Peter Pringle each served years on
death
row — Jacobs 17 years in the United
States and Pringle 15 years in
Ireland. Both were exonerated after their convictions were overturned
for murders that they did not commit. They attribute much of their
strength and survival to the yoga and meditation practices they
developed in prison. After meeting at Amnesty International while both
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campaigning against the death
penalty, they soon
fell in love and married. Sunny and Peter
are inspirational messengers against the death penalty; campaigning
for human rights and for reminding us of the power of the human
spirit to triumph over adversity, suffering and injustice. They travel
worldwide telling their story and shining a light for peace, justice
and healing. Peter and Sunny's were recorded sharing their stories
and animated by puppeteers Smoking
Apples.
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Anne
Gallagher was a former nurse from the Royal Victoria
Hospital
(RVH) in Belfast. She tended to victims on both
sides of the sectarian divide, as well as policeman and
soldiers. Having a father and three brothers interned in the early
days of The Troubles, she experienced the pain of having loved ones
imprisoned and killed.
Anne founded Seeds of Hope, an
organisation
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that
facilitates story-telling, based on her
peace-making work during The Troubles, through music, art, drama,
writing
and sport. This has led to similar work being carried out in prisons,
schools and communities in Sweden, Belgium and the USA.
Anne's
daughter Cara pays tribute to Anne's incredible work in Ireland and
around the world, animated by puppeteer Raven
Kaliana. Anne's words from an interview she did for The
Forgiveness Project have been read by actress Imelda
Staunton
and animated by Handheld Arts.
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Charlie
Ryder is a creative
producer, song writer and collaborator. In
1995 he was sent to prison for 16 months for self-defense against
violent police tactics during a protest against racism in London.
While in prison he kept a scrapbook to record his journey which he
later developed into a one-man play to share his prison experience.
Working with
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Kholoud
Eldesoki began creating art in the Al-Amal neighborhood of the
Gaza Strip city
of Khan Younis, at 23 years old. She uses makeup and hair
spray as a replacement for paints and other materials, which she
cannot find in local markets. Interviewed by writer Ismail Abu
Aitah as part of the We Are Not Numbers mentoring scheme Khaloud
shares some of her artwork and her interview is animated by puppeteer Richard
Mansfield.
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Valia
Abou Alfadel is a
Syrian Artist currently residing in
Dubai UAE. Creative Havens: Syrian Artists and Their Studios' is a
Franco-Syrian
non-profit project. This project aims to raise awareness about the
Syrian Art to the public, presenting portraits of Syrian artists in
their studios and in their work environments. Valia's interview
with
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Syrian Havens was animated with her
paintings and a paintbrush puppet
connecting to her work which was filmed and edited by puppeteer Tony
Sinnett.
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Understanding
Post Traumatic Stress 7 min
Co-produced
by Charlie Ryder, Sue Hanisch, & Raven Kaliana ©2012-2015
Commissioned
for Charlie Ryder's film 'Stories of Healing.' Text and
voiceover by Sue Hanisch, based on her training presentations.
Storyboard, puppets, and puppetry by Raven Kaliana. |
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Prison?
88 Min
Charlie developed his story into a feature film using shadow
puppetry, marionettes, rod puppets, masks, visual art, poetry
and dance to shine a light on his time inside. Charlie hopes that by
painting a picture of his experience it will
educate people and challenge perceptions of prison and prisoners. |
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