Culture Club / Culture Non-Club
Culture Club - F Comme Faim
The slightly reconfigured BJK&E Culture Club’s March activity was a visit to the British Museum to catch a film in the London International Documentary Festival (LIDF) series. The festival boasts 8 days, 8 venues, 80 conversations and as one venue is right on our doorstep it seemed a shame to miss out.
The documentary we were seeing (F Comme Faim / H for Hunger) was described as a passionate & creative exploration of the biology, history, politics and economics of hunger in the blurb so none of us were expecting a light comedy, however, I don’t think we were prepared for how shocking and harrowing it was. The subtitled French film worked as a 90 monologue, with a particularly agressive French narrator pointing the finger squarely in each and every one of our faces for the continuing famine that occurs in so many areas of the world. Throughout the film, he would draw different illustrations … an early one showed one jumbo jet carrying 300 people. The narrator asked you to consider the shock reaction in terms of media coverage etc that would occur if that plane crashed killing all on board… then revealed that the death rate through starvation is the equivalent of 30 jumbos every day, i.e. one person every second.
The film actually made very uncomfortable watching and I found myself squirming in my seat - as everyone from the Pope to people who feed their pets ahead of their fellow man were accused. It has certainly raised some interesting debate since. Without delving too far into the various personal views of famine that have arisen the problem is that this is not a black and white issue with a simple solution, indeed the film made no attempt to offer a solution as to how people can make things better other than eating and wasting less. This initially made me come away feeling frustrated and impotent. I guess there is no easy answer and it is rather encouraging you to think about others who suffer privately away from media coverage and consider how you can help.
Hard-hitting, thought-provoking and highly controversial.
Culture Non Club - Carlos Acosta
On a lighter note, last night I had the opportunity to see Carlos Acosta at The Coliseum.
Carlos is a Cuban ballet dancer - one of 11 children his parents pushed him into it to keep him out of trouble and off the streets. He is now one of the leading names in ballet having performed as principal artist with all the leading ballet companies around the world. He even has his own website:
He is absolutely phenomenal, astonishing stage presence, very impressive physique & a fantastic dancer. The show was so good I could have cried. Critics are saying that, at the ripe old age of 35, his best days are probably behind him … in which case catch him on stage while you can, it will definitely be an experience to remember.