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Launch of new short film competition about health

11 January 2010

Press Release Links:

Film reel ucl.ac.uk/medicalschool/quality/monitoring/ppi/reel_stories" target="_blank">Reel Health Stories
  • UCL Medical School
  • UCL Public Engagement
  • Award-winning director Ken Loach and Dr Who actor David Morrissey will judge 'Reel Health Stories', a new film competition about healthcare in north London.

    The competition, which opens on January 18, has been organised by UCL Division of Medical Education and entries will be used to improve UCL medical students' awareness of local people's beliefs and fears about health.

    The films should be up to five minutes long and can be about any experiences of healthcare, from a visit to the doctor or a relative's stay in hospital, to seeing an accident in the street. Entries are welcome from those with and without film-making experience.

    The best films by an under-18 and by an over-18 will each win a prize of £100, with £50 runner-up prizes. A special educational prize of £100 is also up for grabs. Films will be screened at the Whittington Park Big Day Out in July 2010 and again at UCL in October 2010.

    Competition judge Ken Loach said: "I look forward to Reel Health Stories. It will come at a time when we are expecting big cuts in the NHS. I hope some of the films will not be afraid to tackle the big issues."

    UCL is best known for its central Bloomsbury campus, but also has a site at the Whittington Hospital in Archway where a third of UCL's 1,000 clinical medical students are trained each year.

    Professor Jane Dacre, Director of Medical Education at UCL, said: "The competition will not only give the community a voice in student learning, but will also help forge closer links between local people and UCL Medical School."

    All genres are welcome and the closing date for entries is May 3 2010. The project is supported by The Rowan Arts Project, Reel Islington Screenings and UCL's Public Engagement Unit.

    For more information see www.reelhealthstories.com or contact project coordinator Dr Katherine Woolf at UCL on tel: 020 7288 3546, or email: k.woolf@medsch.ucl.ac.uk

    Media contact: Ruth Howells