Friday 11 August 2017

The Indian Army in the First World War: An Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Perspective

 Winner - (Best Educational Film) at the Tagore International Film Festival

The Indian Army in the First World War: An Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Perspective, to shed new light on the British Indian army’s role in the war on the ‘Eastern Front’ in Iraq (Mesopotamia), through a unique outreach programme and a touring exhibition.

Some of the group researching


The Indian Army in the First World War: An Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Perspective

Run time: 8min (Deaf and Hearing Impaired - Film Subtitled)

This film documents research being carried out by participants from the local Hindu, Sikh and Muslim community. Here they develop display panels for a  touring Museum exhibition.  They also access archive material previously unseen, and some not explored for 100 years or more.  Reflecting on the involvement of the Indian Army during WW1 .


Director: Sharon Woodward
Producers: Dr Priya Atwal, Stephen Barker

 












The Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum

The Soldiers of Oxfordshire (SOFO) Museum and Oxford University’s History Faculty have jointly received funding from the Arts & Humanities Research Council ‘Voices of War & Peace’ WWI Engagement Centre.

Exploring previously unseen archive
The final film will accompany the traveling exhibition at Wycome, Banbury as well as other museums. SOFO will launch a larger WW1 exhibition at Woodstock in 2018. 

Researching

The Indian Army in the First World War:
Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Perspectives
Monday 6 - Thursday 30 November 2017

This mini-exhibition tells about the significant contribution made by India during the Great War. Over one million Sepoys volunteered and 74,000 were killed. British and Indian soldiers fought and died side by side between 1914-1918 when the 1st Battalion Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry fought as part of the Indian Army in Mesopotamia. This is their story, a history that we all share.

This exhibition has been produced by the Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum and the History Faculty at Oxford University in partnership with Oxford community organization volunteers.






The mini-exhibition &  film screenings
6th to 30th November 2017 showing with exhibition  starting at  Wycombe Museum, Priory Avenu, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire.

6th December  to 8th January 2018 showing Banbury Museum, Spiceball Park Road, Banbury,  

It will later be displayed at the Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum in Woodstock from 1st to 30th April 2018.
Entry to the exhibtion is free at Wycombe abd Banbury, though an entry fee is required at the Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum. Family audeinces are welcome to attend and there will be special activities provided for children. 

Banbury Museum 6th December to 8th January 2018 





Festival Screening: 

2018 - January 24th & 25th Cortkino 2K18 Film Festival - Thakur College of Science and Commerce, Ram Singh Road, Mumbi, Maharashtra, India

2018 - March 7th -  Special Women's Open Screen at Film Oxford - part of International Women's Week


2018 - May 2-6 - The Archaeology Channel International Film Festival , Video Bar at Eugene Hilton Hotel and Conference Centre, Eugene, Oregon, USA.

2018 - May 9th - Official Selection of the Ridgewood Guild International Film Festival,  Bow Tie Cinema Warner Quad - 190 E Ridgewood Ave,  Ridgewood, NJ 07450 USA

2018 - May 3rd - Brookes University Documentary Club, Main Lecture Theatre, John Henry Brookes Building, Headington. Oxford UK

2018 - May - Hothouse Theare's Nottz Film Festival (Semi-Finalist) , Nottingham UK

2018 - July/August - Earl's Court Film Festival - Educational Shorts
Earl's Court - Educational Shorts 

2018 - December - NukhuFest, New York, United States USA

2019 - July - A Rebel Minded Festival 2019 (Semi-Finalist)

2020 - March  Oxford International Short Film Festival
St John's College, St. Giles, OX1 3JP Oxford 
Larkin - 14:00-15:00 Film Block C6: LOCAL DOCUMENTARIES
2020 - October Tagore International Film Festival 


For more information see below:
Voices of War & Peace 
Eastern Eye 
Oxford Mail 
BBC India' WW1 

Friday 10 May 2013

History In The Making - Oar Makers & Alchester Project

I was commissioned by the Oxfordshire Museum Service and the Archeology department to document a series of events and educational activities exploring the County's artifacts that display traditional crafts and skills, as well as local artists and craftspeople who inspire future generations.

History in the Making is a project of the Oxfordshire Museum Service and was funded by Arts Council England as part of the Aspire programme 

The Oxfordshire Oar Makers 
Running Time: 17.16 min
Museum Services Volunteers Caroline & Roger become curious when a Rowing Oar is donated to the Museum along with an essay about the craft. The film follows their research as they discover how the craft developed from 1932 and played out onto a world stage with techniques that still survives today. 
 Broadcast as part of the Channels POSTCARDS series in 2013 and 2014 
on The Community Channel  
 *Sky 539 *Virgin Media 23
Other screenings Detroit's Museum of New Art  September 2013 
Portobello Film Festival September 2014
 
To view documentary click here: The Oxfordshire Oar Makers






Alchester Project
Running Time: 15 min 
Alchester project, observing army Cadets from Woodstock and Elsfield  working with memorial sculptor Alec Peever to design a war memorial, celebrating the traditions of Stonemasonry and the techniques originally used by Roman Stonemasons that still exist today. Army cadets design a war memorial inspired
 by the Roman tombstone, which was excavated in 2003 at Alchester.
The Memorial stone of the second Augstan  Legion -Lucius Valerius Geminus.
The cadets Memorial stone will be unveiled on Remembrance Sunday 2013.
The film will be screened at the Oxfordshire Soldiers Museum in Woodstock .
Also broadcast as part of the POSTCARDS series a double episode 
with Unearthing The Anglo Saxons
on Sky 539 | Virgin Media 233 | Freesat 651| Freeview 63
To view documentary click here: Alchester Project
Other screenings Portobello Film Festival 2014





Cadets with The Ermine Street Guard

 Cadets studying the Alchester Stone with Colour Sjt Wayne Robinson and 
Stephen Barker Learning and Participation Manager - Soldiers of Oxfordshire

 Sara Morton  Objects Conservator (Archaeology) and Dr Chris Ferguson Curator of Archaeology

 Alec Peever 'Memorial Sculptor'

The Alchester Project also features on The Archaeology Channels new strand Portraits of Humanity. Portraits of Humanity 
Also lesson plans for teachers from The Archaeology Channel Lesson Plan 3 Alchester Memorial Stone



"Thank you so much for all the work you have done to promote this (Unearthing The Anglo Saxons) and the other two films, it really does make a huge difference to us in terms of being able to reach new and wider audiences."
Carol Anderson
Oxfordshire Museums Service Manager 



For more information on the History In The Making Project see below:

Project & Film Partners:


Sharon can also be found here WoodwardMedia Facebook page