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Us and Them (2010)

upekshapriya — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 13:16:00 +0000

Most of the work I have done recently hasn’t been available online, but Clear Vision’s latest product was grant-funded and is an interactive online product made for teenagers for free! It’s called Us and Them: Buddhism and Community. I did most of the camerawork (apart from visiting Bhutan I’m afraid), edited it and co-directed it with my colleague Munisha, who also scripted it and wrote all the support materials.

On the Threshold (2006)

upekshapriya — Sat, 23 Dec 2006 10:06:19 +0000

Following on from the success of Big Sister in encouraging people to volunteer to knock on people’s doors, Manjuka and I made another video about Karuna fundraising and taking our Buddhist practice out into the world. The still (chosen by Google Video) shows Manjusvara (one of the fundraising trainers) encouraging us to avoid the prison of perfectionism.

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“Consisting of interviews with twelve fundraisers and trainers from three Appeals, On the Threshold presents a frank and honest exploration of the fears that can arise when we try to communicate from our Buddhist values. Itâ€™s a film about the desire we have to realise our connectedness with others and a moving testimony to the joy that comes when we manage to step out from behind our limitations and realise that connectedness.”

“Something had freed up. Some sort of kindness I would say. And all I could do was share that, there was more than I needed, so it sort of flowed over onto the door.” Karuna Fundraiser

Karuna Trust

Lotus in the City (2006)

upekshapriya — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 09:19:32 +0000

For this video Maitreyabandhu and I interviewed about forty people around the London Buddhist Centre to show newcomers the breadth and depth of practice as well as the activities in the Buddhist village of Bethnal Green. It was lovely working with Maitreyabandhu again, great fun and very harmonious too.

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“The London Buddhist Centre (LBC) is one of the largest urban Buddhist Centres in the West. It opened in 1978 and has quickly become the heart of a thriving Buddhist community in the East End of London. â€˜Lotus in the Cityâ€™ is an entertaining and moving film celebrating the life of the LBC and the surrounding â€˜Buddhist Villageâ€™ through the impressions of some of huge range of people who benefit from it.” Blurb from DVD cover

And a couple of sections that didn’t make it to the final DVD:

Arts

Early history

Big Sister – a dharma documentary (2005)

upekshapriya — Sun, 21 May 2006 17:49:27 +0000

I really enjoyed making this video with Karuna Trust last year.

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“In 2005, we made a film about how Karuna Trust has turned fundraising into a spiritual practice. “Big Sister” is an intimate documentary about five women and their stuggles, laughter and learning on a door-knocking Appeal in London.” Karuna Trust

The Making of the Triumph of Life (2003)

upekshapriya — Sat, 20 May 2006 00:03:26 +0000

The Triumph of Life opera about the last days of the Buddha was an incredibly ambitious project produced in under a month by a group of people around the London Buddhist Centre who amazingly had never done anything really like it before. They were wanting to communicate the ideals of Buddhism in a very different way by engaging in the world creatively, collaborating with a school, with musicians and singers who normally wouldn’t necessarily be interested in working with Buddhists – getting out of the Buddhist Centre and into the community – how much it achieved that was debatable but it did get noticed in the local press and even nationally. We at Clear Vision were asked to produce a record of the performance and also to do the ‘making of’ documentary, which proved quite a mamoth task in the end – twenty five hours was boiled down to just over half an hour. It doesn’t give you the whole picture because there were interviews with the major participants and a news video (from the FWBO Newsreel) (see the Newsreel story below) also included on the DVD of the performance.

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and the Newsreel story

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Sex Elvis Boy (1993)

upekshapriya — Sat, 13 May 2006 15:25:17 +0000

A short video inspired by some music a couple of friends were making at the time.

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“Inspired by adventures in public places, Sex Elvis Boy takes us to London’s Hampstead Heath. Released in the U.K. as part of a package of gay short films, Boys On Film 4. ” PlanetOut PopcornQ Movies

The Truth Game (1990)

upekshapriya — Sat, 13 May 2006 14:58:35 +0000

This was my graduation film from filmschool and travelled the world going to over 23 film festivals – taking me with it a few times.

“Paul, 18, is gay and wants to tell his father. They go on holiday together and with the aid of a video camera play the truth game. Observing the tensions between a gay father and son, the film surveys the “forbidden space” between love and the erotic.” PlanetOut PopcornQ Movies

Two Men (1989)

upekshapriya — Sat, 13 May 2006 12:10:25 +0000

The first video I ever made ‘on my own’. A bit more revealing, in many ways, than the title indicates.

Reflections on the holiday romance of John and Joao on the Algarve.

All Out! Dancing in Dulais (1986)

upekshapriya — Sat, 13 May 2006 07:00:28 +0000

Radical queers at the time were involved with supporting the miners in the 1985/5 Miners’ strike and we in the Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners’ Group made a record of our involvement with a mining community in South Wales.

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“The South Wales miners’ strike of 1984-1985 saw the formation of a curious alliance between a plucky group of young homosexuals from London and miners in Dulais Valley. In Dancing in Dulais, an initial wariness on the part of the young gays, the miners, and the miners’ families gives way, through sometimes delicate interactions, to a loving and purposeful solidarity. The unembellished videography captures well this fascinating-to-witness union of two disparate yet ultimately kindred groups. The “Pits and Perverts” benefit concert features the Bronski Beat.” PopcornQ Movies at PlanetOut.com

Framed Youth – the revenge of the teenage perverts! (1983)

upekshapriya — Sat, 13 May 2006 05:41:31 +0000

I joined the very ad hoc Lesbian and Gay Youth Video Project in 1982 and we (about 25 young lesbians and gays) made this video about ourselves, our friends and some strangers(!). We were challenging the ways that conventional documentary makers were showing lesbians and gay men on television documentaries and so wanted to include ourselves as makers and as subjects, not in any way trying to be balanced. We found ways to film each other that helped us feel comfortable and we did loads of experiments using the new VHS and Betamax cameras. When the editing came to be done the new technology of the freeze frame helped disguise some dodgily shot interviews but also had the great effect of helping the viewer to concentrate on what was being said. So what with adding in clips of tv and films as comment and videoing what we shot in the street on a monitor (to highlight the outside ’straight’ world) we were throwing away all the conventions in the book, not to mention chopping up what we said underneath all the freeze frames to make it sound better – we ended up getting an award for Best Documentary from the BFI in 1983 and being shown on Channel 4 (at midnight in a youth slot) in 1986.

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“Made by, for and about young gay people, with rising stars of the time Jimi Somerville and Isaac Julien among a host of others, Framed Youth won the John Grierson Award for documentary. Television hadn’t seen such real lesbians and gay men talking honestly about their lives. Offering instant 80s nostalgia for an alternative club scene and a pop video informed exuberance.” 17th London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival

“Cheeky British lesbian and gay teenagers hit London’s streets with video cameras and microphones to confront normals’ views on homosexuality. The results are both humorous and revealing. Produced by the teenagers themselves, Framed Youth features a segment by Bronski Beat’s Jimi Somerville.” PlanetOut PopcornQ Movies