CREATIVE:U~TURN ANIMATION PREMIERE AT RICH MIX

For eight months in 2016, through our creative:u~turn project, our professional artists and volunteers from sponsor Reed Smith enabled women who attended U-Turn Women’s Project in Tower Hamlets to write and produce their own animated film. The programme helped to empower women who have experienced abuse, substance addiction and homelessness.

creative:u~turn allowed these women to strengthen support networks within their community and build the skills and self-confidence they need to make positive life changes. Through sessions spanning drama, animation and music, they stepped into creative roles to call the shots in producing an original animation complete with their own soundtrack.      

The project came to a close in an inspiring finale at Rich Mix, with the fruits of the women’s creative labour presented for friends, family and the general public. The showcase streamed the women’s final comedic animation, Flower Power: Mole on a Mission, a stop-motion short telling the story of a mole who overcomes personal hardship due to a difficult past, with thanks to intervention from his friends. Representing a humorous and self-aware take on the challenges met by the women in their own lives, the animation presented a light-hearted but poignant look at how personal issues can be addressed through the assistance of supportive relationships for those finding themselves in instances of vulnerability.

Accompanying the animation were performances of the participants’ original musical compositions live from Rich Mix’s stage. Born out of sessions working with Create’s musician John Webb, the soundtrack was perfectly tailored to the film – suitably witty renditions of songs such as ‘(I Can’t Get No) Ratisfaction’ by the Molling Stones set a particularly positive tone for the afternoon’s sharing! 

This article is from 2016.