First World War: Then and Now
REELmcr use film-making to provide a voice to under-represented and vulnerable communities. They brought together over 25 people from a variety of backgrounds for this intergenerational project.
Thirteen workshops were delivered in total, covering areas such as research skills, poetry, drama, camera operation, sound recording and editing.
Participants on the project visited local military museums, libraries and memorials in order to collect information and find out about how their ancestors lived during the First World War. They also carried out research exploring working-class conditions in Manchester at the time. The workshops and visits were filmed by a young resident from the Langley Estate, who has edited the footage into a ‘behind the scenes’ documentary.
The documentary and film of the poem were shown at a community premiere in Middleton, at which several of the participants also performed live on stage. The poem was screened across Rochdale during the literature festival, and the Facebook page for the project has had over 2,000 views. The film is now on permanent display in Rochdale Town Hall.