A new pop-up festival focused on London’s parks, gardens and wildland

www.londonnaturefilms.org

 

Following the success of this summer’s festival in Bethnal Green, with a varied day of unique films and much networking, our next event will take place in central London during GROW URBAN FESTIVAL, part of The Great Big Green Week, 7th-15th June 2025.

The festival screens predominantly films but also animation, stories, poems and visual art. Nature conservation workers, community growers, other practitioners and media creators host Q and A sessions after the showings. There is a particular focus on films and art from those practically involved in projects, preferably documented over time.Please sign up to our email list to stay informed and follow us at:

info@londonnaturefilms.org       insta @urbannature_films        www.londonnaturefilms.org

2024 Festival   Sunday 30th June 2024   2.00pm – 8.00pm     

VENUE:   Makers Cabinet, 4-8 Vyner Street, Hackney, London, E2 9DG

2.00pm   Wellbeing Garden projects with the NHS  in Chelsea (10 mins)   Followed by Talk / Q&A

A short film about the Violet Melchett Health & Wellbeing Hub’s garden restoration and their visit to the Chelsea Physic Garden. Talk and Q and A by Dana Camino from LMA West London GP Federation and Susi Barran, NHS Speech and Language therapist about the NHS and gardens and personal experiences.

2.40pm   Brent Gets Wilder (4 mins)  by Neil Thompson. Followed by Talk / Q&A

Funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, The Wild in Brent project provided opportunities for children who do not have access to green space at home and the repurposing of unused areas in their schools to create wildflower meadows and edible gardens. Alternative View Studios‘ 2D animation ‘Brent Gets Wilder’ tells the story of how LEAP made this happen. The animation was shortlisted in the World Health Organization, Health For All Film Festival 2023, Climate Change and Health category. Caroline D’Souza from Leap and the filmmaker will discuss the film after the screening.

3.20pm    The North Marsh Habitats Project  (10 mins) by Ian Phillips.  Followed by Talk / Q&A

Short documentary followed by a talk.  Ian Phillips’ film about a large renaturing project creating habitat for wildlife on the Walthamstow Marshes. Talk between the filmmaker and ecologist and nature conservationist Nina Hundt about their various projects in East London with Re Nature London.

4.00pm    Tea break  Free tea & coffee.

4.20pm    Time To Grow  (5 mins)  by Madeleine Hartley Salim. Followed by Talk / Q&A

Short documentary about Time To Grow by Madeleine Hartley Salim; followed by a talk with Greg Frey, Deba Salim and Madeleine Hartley Salim about the importance of food sovereignty, connecting to the land, and the local community through organic small-scale growing. Time to Grow is an initiative in Walthamstow and Hackney that turns peoples unused gardens into community food growing spaces.

5.00pm    A Whole Bunch of Tomatoes   (4 mins) by London Documentary Network  (Afshin Robin Rohani) Followed by Talk / Q&A

Short documentary by London Documentary Network about The Garden of Earthly Delights  – a garden connecting the community through growing food, herbs and flowers and providing an alternate space for people to run workshops, learn new skills, and connect locally. Talk about setting up the space, the challenges and the joys of working collaboratively for a more sustainable and richer community. Followed by a talk with some of the garden facilitators about the importance of food sovereignty, connecting to the land, and the local community through organic small-scale growing.

5.40pm  This Urban Wild Field in Hackney Marshes   (20 mins)  by Claire Loussouarn and Dominique Rivoal  Followed by Talk / Q&A

An art film in Hackney Marsh connecting to a piece of land through the seasons and over the years through movement and film by Claire Loussouarn. Claire, artist, filmmaker and movement practitioner discusses her new book How to be feral: movement practices to re-wild your body. Dominique Rivoal discusses filmmaking and collaborating with Claire in nature.

6.30pm  Oasis Square: Finding Nature in Russell Square (15 minutes) by Clive Ardagh. Followed by Talk

A short film exploring why students, tourists, locals and volunteers come to Russel Square and what form of emotional nourishment the nature there provides them with followed by a discussion afterwards with the filmmaker, Clive Ardagh.

7.00pm   Community get together. An organic, vegan curry cooked on the fire by Ketchurah Revinden will be on sale for £5.  Feel free to bring along your own food/drink of any kind, especially from London’s land. There will be a fire to sit around outside and keep warm from.

8.00pm   Our House (1.2 minutes) by Alexis Bamforth

Alexis Bamforth is an artist and ecology catalyst who has been making links between culture and the natural world for over 30 years. He works across all artforms from sculpture to performance to mass gatherings, making public art for social purpose.  www.experimenter.eu