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Campaign Against Climate Change

16/5/2014

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Rani is currently filming a documentary film for Campaign for Climate Change, working alongside the very passionate and lovely Fiona Brookes, who is the National Co-ordinator for CCC,

Our first destination: Slaithwaite Moor, near Huddersfield, with Stephen Slator, Chair of board and director of Valley Wind Cooperative, which plans to install 3 wind turbines, expected to produce 18 million kWh of clean, green electricity a year, to power 4700 homes.
It was the first time I was going inside a wind turbine, but once you are inside it's just empty space, like being inside an empty toilet roll!
The day started with mist and rain but luckily it ended with sunshine and a beautiful sky.

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CHEW & VIEW – Spring Equinox – South Kilburn Studios

21/3/2014

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Due to demand, Chew & View is back to mark the Spring Equinox with a new exciting menu of food and films.  Alexandra from Growing Kultur cooked a delicious 3 course meal full of fresh Spring flavours. 

South Kilburn Studios


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SHORT FILMS – 7.15pm 
 
The Meaning of Spring Equinox (2012) 7 mins, collage of stills and animation created 
by Dancing Deer Farm. 
Dirt the Movie (2014) 2 mins – trailer of feature documentary directed by Bill Benenson & Gene Rosow. 
Holi Festival (2013) 3 mins 48 secs – A foreigner’s perspective of the Holi festival in Vrindavan, an important Hindu pilgrimage site, where the God Krishna spent his childhood. Directed by Grzegorz Gill 
Seeding deep Democracy (2008) 6 mins – Interview with Vandana Shiva, physicist, 
environmental activist, author of many books and part. 
Seed the untold story (2014) 3 mins – trailer for feature documentary directed by 
Taggart Siegel & Jon Betz 
Iranian New Year Program BBC Persian Part 1 (2011) 3 mins 44 secs – Musical 
ensemble featuring the Ney Anban, a type of bagpipe played in Southern Iran. 
Equinoxes (2012) 2 mins 38 secs - National Geographic 
Vandana Shiva on seeds of Humanity (2013) 3 mins 36 secs – Bill Moyers & co show. 
Mother Polar Bear & Cubs (2008) 3 mins - BBC Planet Earth Richard Attenborough 
Persian New Year Song, Norooz Song 1393 (2011) 4 mins – Music by Hamid Bakhtiari. Directed by Lars Bangsholt, 
 
 
FOOD INTERVAL – 8pm 
3 course meal cooked by Alex from Growing Kultur 
 
 
FEATURE FILM – 9pm 
The Gleaners & I ( 2000) 2hrs French Doc – Directed by Agnes Varda 
MENU
 
TO START
Grilled Lebanese Chicken Wings
OR

Mushrooms 
With:

Hemp & Quinoa Jewelled Tabbouleh salad
Fool Moudamas Crushed broadbeans with lemon juice & roasted garlic
Fattoush, a salad of lettuce, tomato, cucumber, spring onion, mint, radish, parsley and Middle Eastern spices 

All served with warmed flatbreads and herb oils
 
TO FOLLOW
Herby Lamb Kofta Grilled minced lamb seasoned with onion, garlic, cumin, coriander and parsley 
OR 
Spicy Coconut Dahl Lentils cooked in a coconut milk and eastern herbs and spices 
 
TO FINISH
Chargrilled Pineapple with Chilli Lime Drizzle & Coriander 
Herb Infused Orange Slices with Mini Gourmet Brownie 
 
Nibbles (optional) 
Herby Lavosh Thin, crunchy middle Eastern bread 
Lebanese Roasted Cauliflower & Broccoli with a Tahini Dip 
Stuffed Dried Apricots 
 
Cold Drinks 
Nettle & Dandelion Tonic 
Lavender and Lemon Verbena Cordial 
 
A Selection of Fresh & Dried Herbal Infusions 

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The Media Diversity Institute 15th Anniversary

23/1/2014

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MDI’s event ‘Prime-time for Diversity’ gathered some of the most prominent journalists & media experts and was moderated by BBC presenter Razia Iqbal.

Present at panel: The Guardian’s Diary Editor Hugh Muir - Richard Sambrook, Director of the Centre for Journalism at Cardiff School of Journalism and former Head of BBC Global News - Bettina Peters, Director of development at the Thomson Foundation – John Owen, Professor at City University, London & Chairman of the Frontline Club – Maria Lipman, the Chair of the Carnegie Moscow Center’s Society & Regions Program. 
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Panelists discussing diversity in Media
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CHEW & VIEW 1

17/12/2013

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Rani curated and organised the first Chew & View event, at the South Kilburn Studios, which brought people together to enjoy great films and food and to explore the different themes linked to them.
The evening was a huge success with a full house – and an unusual delicious festive feast was cooked up by the delightful and talented Dee Woods, who summed up the evening perfectly:

Where our food comes from today is bound up with the politics of trade and aid, capitalism, greed, oppression and inequity – but also the fierce spirit that people have around the world in taking control of their lives, through food. 
True sustainability of our food, and subsequent health and nutrition is contained in maintaining the freedom of seed, in ensuring right livelihoods for those that produce our food, in changing the system, equal distribution, reducing food waste, making real food, good food, healthy and nutritious food available to all. It is not just about local, seasonal and organic. 

                                                                                                   
                                                                                                      Food is a right. Food for thought.




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SHORT FILMS - 7.15pm 
 
FOOD CHAINS – trailer (2012) - 3 mins 20 secs - Directed by Sanjay Rawal 
 
FOOD FIGHT – (2013) 7 mins - Directed by Ben Zolno, music produced & mixed by 
J.Bless & Golden Horns / Earth Amplified 
 
SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE – (2012) 1 min 45 secs – The Nature Conservancy 
 
SAMSARA – food sequence (2011) 6 mins 15 secs – Directed by Ron Fricke 
 
WHO ARE MONSANTO & ARE THEY REALLY EVIL? (2013) – 11 mins – Directed by 
Truthloader (Citizen Journalism) 
 
NOKIA HK HONEY (2011) 3 mins 11 secs – by Michael Lern 
 
DABBA WALAS (2009) 3 mins 56 secs – Directed by Karan / Geobeats 
 
 
FOOD INTERVAL cooked by Dee Woods – 8pm 
 
 
FEATURE – 9pm 
 
TAMPOPO (1985) - 114 mins - Japanese comedy - Directed by Juzo Itami 
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Dee Woods, photo by Manos Fotiou

FOOD MENU

An exquisite menu from Trinidad, but with global influences. Meat, vegetarian and vegan options available.

TO START: Pastelles following a recipe from Trinidad and Tobago; meat or vegetable-stuffed cornmeal parcels wrapped in banana leaves and steamed (served with chow chow, real ketchup, and creole pepper sauce); tostones; fried green and ripe plantains (served with mojo sauce, salsa and a spicy mayonnaise)

TO FOLLOW: Vegetarian option – a mixed bean and vegetable stew cooked with coconut milk and culantro, ginger, chilies and other spices; meat – a hearty Caribbean beef stew, using organic beef (served with rice and a selection of salads); salads – kale salad with cranberry and walnuts, carrot slaw

TO FINISH: Orange cranberry polenta cake served with mascarpone cream, toasted almonds and orange zest; Divine Decadence ruby chocolate cake with satin frosting and pomegranate seeds; vegan option – mixed fruit

Due to popular demand, Chew & View will be back in March 2014 with a new exciting menu of food and films!

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THE STORY OF MARIO: A SARDINIAN SCARECROW IN LONDON

11/10/2013

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 Or ....the funny story behind my first book.

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An extraordinary thing happened in 2012. I received an enormous coffin-sized box with my name on it. Not expecting anything, it’s fair to say that I opened the box with a certain amount of trepidation, especially as the first item to emerge from it was a man’s shoe and then another – and then what looked like a leg. Needless to say, it was quite an eerie experience, until more pieces were revealed and it became apparent that these were the body parts of a self-assembly scarecrow! Yet I still had no idea who had sent it – and why. And then, I made the connection.

In 2002, I had been invited to Sardinia to film a particularly special carnival, organised and curated by Dante Olianas. It was a visual and musical feast of international carnival magic, set in the village of Eskolka – and it was there that I discovered Mario Serrau’s amazing scarecrows. There were a variety of these scarecrows – giant scarecrows, baby scarecrows, some were realistic while others were fantastical – all of them true works of art. Ten years later, I was invited to show some of my footage at the 10th anniversary of this famous carnival. Little did I know that many of the people I had filmed would be in the audience. Mario Serrau was there, he saw himself in the film and heard me say on camera how much I loved his scarecrows and how I wished that I could take one back to London with me…and so 10 years later he actually sent me one of his scarecrows!

I assembled the scarecrow in my flat. I named him Mario (in homage to his creator ) and decided to give Mario a new life in London as a way of thanking Mario Serrau who had sent him to me. And that is how I came to create the book The Story Of Mario: A Sardinian Scarecrow In London - with the invaluable help of my filmmaker friend Keren Ghitis, who took photographs of me and Mario for this book.

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Some months later, the book I sent Mario Serrau received a great deal of attention in Sardinia! Who was this crazy woman who had gone on various adventures with a scarecrow in the streets of London? The ingenious Dante Olianas succeeded in getting funding from the Ministry of Culture to invite me to present the book in Eskolka, the place where I had first seen the scarecrows during the famous unorthodox carnival . So I went back in October 2013 with copies of the book and became part of Mario’s family of scarecrows. "Spaventi passeri" in Italian.

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ROSE FESTIVAL – KELAA M’GOUNA, MOROCCO

9/5/2013

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In May 2013, the Media Diversity Institute invited me to represent them at the Rose Festival in Kelaa M’Gouna, Morocco, as a media consultant. I recorded and produced audio podcasts exploring what the local Moroccans and the Amazigh people (previously known as the Berber) thought about the Moroccan media coverage of this special event. Their responses were quite mixed and contradictory.  On the one hand some people thought the coverage was positive as it brought the media and government to this isolated region, and improvements had occurred over the last few years in the education and health sectors , on the other hand, others believed that in actuality it had not made a difference to people's lives.
It was my first time in this part of Morocco, a most unexpected and magical place called the Vallée des Roses, within the Dades valley, tucked between the Atlas Mountains and the Sahara desert. In spring, the entire Dades Valley becomes a sea of small pink Persian roses. These roses are the valley’s life-blood, from cultivation to the production of rose water and rose oil. In mid-May, the harvesting of the roses is celebrated with a three-day festival of entertainment, music, dance, horse and sword displays – and a showcase for all the rose products and local distilleries. The Rose Festival draws around 20,000 Moroccans and a few tourists. The whole town bathes in a unique rose fragrance and pays homage to this most beautiful flower, on which the inhabitants’ livelihood depends.

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Through meeting the wonderful Moulay El Hassan, who became a friend and a guide, I had the chance to visit a traditional distillery run by women: Association Feminine pour le Développement de la Famille OUED – DADES AFDF, in Douar Ait Majber. It aims to help women gain financial independence, combat isolation and segregation, support mothers and children with access to education and heath services, educate the youth on environmental issues, the preservation of the environment and its biodiversity, eco tourism and fair trade with the intention of bringing remuneration to the locals working on the land. 

We were welcomed with a most delicious breakfast consisting of freshly made bread and apricot jam, homemade butter, olives and honey.  And Moroccan tea of course!  It was so good to eat all of this food in the distillery's courtyard,  and to know that it came from this land, from these people, who shared it so generously with us.

To observe the traditional process involved to make rose oil and rose water was quite a revelation.  I had no idea that it took  60,000 roses to make 1 ounce of rose oil, equivalent to 29.57 ml.

To find myself surrounded by so many roses in this remote part of Morocco, was a truly magical moment.  Here are some photographs from our visit, several taken by Mai-Britt Wulf, the lovely German journalist with whom  I was traveling, others by Hamid - a young, friendly and talented Moroccan media student, and some by me.



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