We recently held a mini film festival for students at Selby College to launch National Career’s Week, and as part of our ongoing project with Selby District Council.
At our Social Sofa consultations last year, students told us how they felt trapped in Selby, reliant on parents and friends to move around, and having to visit other cities to access the cinema. The desire for a cinema was top amongst the young adults we spoke to.
Obviously building a cinema was outside our budget, so we designed a mini film festival they could enjoy in their lunch break, and featuring inspirational young adults from across the globe. Inspired by our own experiences of attending the touring BANFF Film Festival, the focus was mostly outdoor pursuits, as explained by Joe:
I’m self employed and spend every waking minute thinking, stressing or dealing with work. It’s tiring and definitely has an impact on my mental health and family life. This pressure could get too much, but I have a little safety valve that I press to let off steam and reset. That valve is the outdoors. Sometimes it’s throwing myself down a mountain on a bike or skis, sometimes it’s going wild camping with my mates and sleeping under the stars. Sometimes it’s just getting up before dawn and taking my dog for a walk.
The beauty of activity is that it closes your mind from everything. You’ll know this feeling – if you’re playing football you don’t think about anything else. If you’re skating, your mind will be on your board. You need focus to stay safe, enjoy the experience and perform. Closing your mind like this to external life is a great experience and can help you deal with all the rubbish life can throw at you!
Feedback from the event was overwhelming positive, with students describing it as “unorthodox”, “inspiring”, and “exciting”.
All of these consultations and pilot activities and events will feed into a report presented to Selby District Council this Spring, and we’re hoping to be able to roll out some of our recommendations across Selby, Sherburn and Tadcaster over the coming few years.
Playlist
- Be The Change You Want To See – 2 minutes
- One Shot: Brandon Semenuk’s unReal Segment – 4 minutes
- 8m High Dive World Record Full Version – 2 minutes
- Life story Mohamad Al Jounde – 7 minutes
- Adventure Unbound with Brooke Raboutou – 3 minutes
- “a love note to my body,” A Poem By Cleo Wade – 1 minute
- Andy Anderson: a Short Skate Film – 5 minutes
- Weightless – Jean-Baptiste Chandelier – YouTube – 6 minutes
