Oranges and Sunshine

[Beate]

Just to say that this competition seems to be first come first served as I emailed when someone said they got tickets, and I was emailed back almost within the hour!

http://www.fmuk.org.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=9729

[prettyxcool]

I emailed last night at 11.30pm and have just got email back, so they are definitely responding quickly.
See you there!

[5rannoch]

"Oranges and Sunshine tells the story of Margaret Humphreys, a social worker from Nottingham, who uncovered one of the most significant social scandals in recent times: the forced migration of children from the United Kingdom. Almost singlehandedly, against overwhelming odds and with little regard for her own well-being, Margaret reunited thousands of families, brought authorities to account and worldwide attention to an extraordinary miscarriage of justice. She discovered a secret that the British government had kept hidden for years: one hundred and thirty thousand children in care had been sent abroad to commonwealth countries, mainly Australia. Children as young as four had been told that their parents were dead, and been sent to children's homes on the other side of the world. Many were subjected to appalling abuse. They were promised oranges and sunshine, they got hard labour and life in institutions."


Saw this at the The Fabulous Picture Show screening today, followed by a Q&A with Jim Loach. It is a docudrama told from Margaret's perspective. Not being aware of the details of the story, I have to admit that I did not always fully understand what was happening, leaving me with a number of unanswered questions. The story is presented in quite a flat, unemotional way but it still managed to make a number of people in the audience cry at the end.

I am glad that I went to see it and also to have had the benefit of the Q&A which certainly helped my understanding of why things were portrayed as they were. However, I had not realised that Fabulous Picture Show experience required a commitment of 5-6 hours. So many thanks to Ejwrank for sitting at the back with me and having your view of the Q&A largely obscured by the moving camera but it did enable me to slip out and successfully catch the train before peak time.

[TheDude]

What... 5-6 hours?

[ejwrank]

You have to be at The Everyman by 12 noon (meaning you have to travel to get there) and they give you a drink and then we went into the cinema where they had sandwiches (in the past the film was shown downstairs in a small screening room but this time we were upstairs in the main cinema for the film). Lots of waiting around and then finally the film. Then another 10 minutes with snacks and downstairs for a Q & A which seemed to take a long time to set up. If you sit in the filming area you cannot leave and the whole thing didn't finish until 4 pm so it was a long day. So it is a bit time commitment.

I liked the film. It's well acted and an incredible story -- impossible to believe that such a thing happened and went on for so long. I hope to read Margaret Humphrey's book Empty Cradles now. The director Jim Loach (son of Ken Loach) gave a good Q&A and seemed very down to earth.

Glad to see 5rannoch there and glad you managed to get your train before the witching hour of peak fares struck.

[ejwrank]

I tried to get a ticket for husband in that competition on Feb 17 but no luck (applied earlier than Beate and prettyxcool but they must like you better), so if anyone has a spare he would very much like to see it.


edit: Husband has now received ticket.

[Beate]

How peculiar! I wish I had a spare for you! I only ever have spares to things no one seems to want though.

[prettyxcool]

I tried to get a ticket for husband in that competition on Feb 17 but no luck (applied earlier than Beate and prettyxcool but they must like you better), so if anyone has a spare he would very much like to see it.

What a shame. They did ask for job title, so may be they based it on that?

[superhero]

Well there's always Justin Bieber on that night!

I tried to get a ticket for husband in that competition on Feb 17 but no luck (applied earlier than Beate and prettyxcool but they must like you better), so if anyone has a spare he would very much like to see it.

[Beate]

No he is on the 16th.