Stroke Association with The University of Manchester and production company Somewhere invites you to participate in a preview film screening of The Closer We Get and an outreach-building workshop on Tuesday May 27 as part of Stroke, Science, Art 2014.

We are inviting a small group of scientists, stroke survivors, professionals, education specialists and others whose input we would greatly value for this innovative event, and hope you can be part of it.

It will be chaired by Dr Erinma Ochu (Wellcome Trust Public Engagement Fellow) and also attended by the film’s production team as part of Science, Stroke, Art 2014 www.sciencestrokeart.co.uk

About the Film

The Closer We Get is a powerful new feature film directed by Karen Guthrie, a moving autobiographical documentary with Karen’s mother Ann – a stroke survivor – at its centre. The film draws on twenty years of the director’s personal archive to unfurl a gripping family narrative that faces up to another family trauma as seen through the lens of stroke and its aftermath. The family returns to each other as Ann’s carers and we see the protagonists of the film change as the stroke becomes a life raft, rescuing the family from a decline into silence.

Over 6 years in the making and now nearing completion, this unique film has attracted support from Arts Council England, Royal College of Art, the Scottish Documentary Institute and Creative England, and raised over 15k via crowd-funding on Indiegogo earlier this year. We expect the film will achieve its festival premiere this summer before gaining wider international distribution from 2015 onwards.

Somewhere is putting together an innovative outreach programme around the film, aimed at anyone affected by stroke. The outreach will include stroke-specific online elements for the film website and community screening / discussion events led by Karen over 2014-16.
We want you to help design what this outreach is, to make sure it’s as effective as possible.

Event Details

The event will take place from 11.00 – 15.00 on Tuesday May 27 2014, at Contact Theatre, Manchester

We will kick off with a screening of the film (circa 85 mins), followed by lunch (provided) then a chaired discussion and workshop.

Note – this event is strictly by Invitation Only. Please RSVP to northwest@stroke.org.uk

About Somewhere

Karen Guthrie and Nina Pope are artists and film-makers who formed Somewhere in 2001. In 2007 they won the first Northern Art Prize, and they have completed commissions for Tate Modern, I.C.A, BBC and others. They are currently artists-in-residence with Cambridge University. The Closer We Get is their fourth feature documentary, following ‘Bata-ville: We Are Not Afraid of the Future’ (2005), ‘Living with the Tudors’ (2008) and Jaywick Escapes (2013).

See more:
http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-closer-we-get
http://www.somewhere.org.uk/films/the-closer-we-get
https://www.facebook.com/TheCloserWeGet