Impact case study database

Eastwood’s film practice research makes death and dying accessible to a general audience, and to professionals and medical students within the field of palliative care. Eastwood has used two distinct art forms, a feature length film (ISLAND) [3.1] and a multiscreen video installation (The Interval and the Instant) [3.2], to reach diverse audiences and create opportunities for engagement and increased familiarity with a challenging subject. Through UK and international screenings, exhibitions and targeted talks and workshops, Eastwood has made use of innovative contexts to give unprecedented visibility to palliative care and to the end of life. At the same time Eastwood’s work has led to an increased understanding amongst programmers, scholars, and audiences of filmic art as a medium of ethical substance [5.1].

Development of ISLAND educational and training toolkit for palliative care professionals

A 2018 report from the Royal College of Physicians (Bailey and Cogle 2018) states that doctors and medical staff struggle with difficult conversations with dying patients and must be better educated in all aspects of palliative care.

Dr Andreas Hiersche, Lead Clinician in Palliative Care, Brighton & Sussex University Hospitals commissioned The Interval and the Instant at Fabrica. A group of 20 of his trainee doctors visited the exhibition in November 2017 and produced coursework in response to the artwork. Testimonials from these sessions were used in the design of the educational toolkit [3.4]. Eastwood was then invited by Dr Hiersche, to run a session for third year medical students, contributing to the continuation of their professional development at this now annual session, where Dr Hiersche attests:

‘There is no doubt in my mind that this extraordinary film is a gift to anybody who wants to expand their horizon and explore death and dying in a non-threatening and accessible way […] It allowed the students to participate in an experience that neither classroom based nor clinical teaching could afford them […] We would certainly like to continue working with the film in our programme at the medical school.’ [5.9]

Feedback from the sessions [5.6], as well ISLAND, and additional research on The Interval and the Instant [3.3], helped build the ISLAND toolkit [3.4] to prepare doctors, nurses and medical students for their encounters with palliative patients [5.3, 5.4, 5.5].

Eastwood and his collaborator, the production company Hakawati set up a working group with established partners Mountbatten and Martlets hospices, and new partners St. Oswald’s Hospice and BARTS & The Royal London Hospital, and ran pilot training sessions between February and July 2017 using ISLAND as a tool for reflective learning [5.2].

The sessions were initially held at the Royal London Hospital (RLH) with second-year undergraduate medical students (43 attendees) and second year foundation doctors (28 attendees) led by Dr Anna Moore, Undergraduate Medical Education Fellow, Simulation Centre, who wanted to share this experience with junior medical students:

'Having watched ISLAND I wanted to show it to our junior medical staff and students because of its very clear focus on the people who are followed in the film […] As healthcare professionals we frequently do not have the time to explore ideas like this with the people we care for, often to the detriment of both our relationship with them, and their care as a whole.

ISLAND is a unique tool which gives viewers an insight both into the experiences of people approaching the end of their lives and the emotions that dealing with death and dying as a healthcare professional can elicit. I cannot think of a better way of educating healthcare professionals on this extremely important part of the job of caring for patients. Feedback from the sessions highlighted the value that ISLAND plays in preparing healthcare professionals for dealing with death and dying as qualified practitioners, as well as giving important insights into some of the aspects of the death and dying that are less well recognised.’ [5.3]

A further two screenings were then held at St. Oswald’s with medical consultants and nurses [5.3, 5.4], and a further three screenings at Martlets (55 attendees) to third-year undergraduate medical students [5.5]. ISLAND was also presented to groups of nurses from Mountbatten at screenings in December 2017 and September 2018 [5.4]. Watching ISLAND allowed medical staff and students to participate in an experience not available in the classroom or clinical teaching and rethink future experiences with palliative care patients. One student said the film ‘really highlighted that hospices are places of living’ [5.5]. Approximately 150 trainee doctors and nurses participated in these sessions, to which they attest [5.5]:

• ‘…the film has made me less scared of palliative care.' (Nursing Society, University of Brighton)

• 'It has increased my awareness of what can be done to ease people's deaths and how dedicated nurses can be.' (Cruse Bereavement Care, Lincoln)

• 'Opened my eyes to know that it is okay to offer support to the patient's families.' (Derbyshire Community Health Services, NHS Trust)

• 'This session has made me realise that giving people choices and communications with patients so that they are able to open up and have the chance to express maybe something they would like to say about the way they would like to die or any other important messages.’ (Student nurse, RLH)

• 'It has given me the courage to respect everyone’s choice on how they want to be treated when dying.’ (Student nurse, RLH)

• ‘…now I see that although a slightly greater degree of sensitivity is required, these patients should be treated just like any other patient.’ (Medical student, Martlets)

Feedback from all the sessions [5.6] was consolidated in the construction of the ISLAND toolkit [3.4] which launched in November 2019 [5.2] to prepare doctors, nurses and medical students for their encounters with palliative patients, and to contribute to continuing professional development [5.3, 5.4, 5.5].

Informing public understanding of death and dying

Through its cinema release, ISLAND has reached thousands of people (the film’s trailer has been shared 34,000 times, with 50% international site visitors [5.9]). By engaging members with ISLAND, the film [3.1] has helped raise public understanding and informed the public of death and dying, speaking to members of the public post screening during Q&A sessions [5.7]:

‘It made what could have been thought of as a difficult topic - not that way at all, just a normal part of life’

‘ISLAND’s fantastic portrayal of humanity […] in life and death gave me great strength’.

‘Having now witnessed a death for myself, I can tell you first-hand how amazingly helpful your film was. Having seen the film, I was so much better prepared with what to expect and, consequently, much calmer and relaxed […] I had the strength to stay with him through periods of fast and heavy breathing. Didn’t panic when breathing paused. Most importantly, I was not squeamish about the body. All this is thanks to your film’.

The film has provoked debate in the UK and beyond and raised awareness, attitudes and understanding on the visibility of hospice care and those with terminal illness [5.8], and gained media and press attention featuring on BBC Breakfast, Sight and Sound, The Sunday Times, The Guardian and more. [5.10 & 5.11].

ISLAND has gained large public interest through events across the UK taking place between November 2017 and December 2018 including a total of 21 cinema screenings (including at the Irish Film Institute, Bristol Watershed Cinema and Southampton Harbour Lights Picturehouse)and at film festivals (Screening Rights Film Festival, Human Rights Film Festival) [5.8] which have been accompanied by targeted sessions featuring professional respondents. Audiences praised the film for ‘bringing death back into the communities’ with one member of the public stating that‘the film is a great contribution […] to open people up to talking about death and dying’ [5.7]. In autumn 2019, ISLAND was released on video on demand via MUBI, Amazon, iTunes, greatly increasing reach with international audiences. Since March 2018 @ISLANDFilmUK has made 154,480 impressions [5.9].

Through public events, screenings and feedback collated from these sessions, ISLAND was able to inform public knowledge of death and dying, creating a space for people to openly talk and think about death and dying, and confront the reality of death, making it a part of daily existence and less frightening.

Influencing professional training and practices internationally

Hakawati have promoted the educational toolkit to their regional networks and beyond, with a number of hospices and universities having licensed the toolkit/film, including Martlets, Mary Stevens Hospice, Brighton/Sussex Medical School, University of Birmingham (School of Nursing), University of Brighton (Centre for Memory, Narrative and Histories), and the University of Exeter. The project has received significant recognition within palliative care, with palliative care consultant Kathryn Mannix hailing ISLAND, in a foreword to the toolkit, as ‘a film to set the record straight after decades of inaccurate, misleading and over-dramatized screen portrayals of dying’ [5.3].

Further promotions have been conducted internationally following requests from organisations to licence the toolkit in Australia (Calvary Health Care), USA (OHSU School of Nursing, Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, Hospice House Williamsburg), Canada (Simon Fraser University Library, King's University College), Germany (University Medicine Greifswald) and Spain (Universidad Internacional de la Rioja).

Since the release of the film and its toolkit, around sixty-five universities and hospices across the UK requested to license the toolkit [5.9] in 2019. Although, this process has been put on hold due to the COVID19 pandemic, Eastwood and Hakawati begun negotiations in 2020 for the licensing of the film to over 25 university libraries and 20 hospice libraries across the country, potentially reaching thousands of clinical staff, trainees and volunteers. Plans are also underway to broadcast ISLAND internationally and to make the film available to international universities and hospital libraries.

Devasunadaram’s research has achieved impact in several key areas: it has enhanced the practice of film curation and programming in the UK and internationally, increased awareness and understanding of independent Indian cinema amongst cinema professionals, and enabled bodies such as the BFI to advance the professional development of young curators. Devasundaram’s research has also served to develop awareness and engagement in local and international audiences through participatory production of documentary film.

Devasundaram’s, Memories Through Cinema (MTC) project produced a one-hour documentary, Movies, Memories, Magic (MMM) which has been screened nationally and internationally and has had a transformative effect on curation and programming practices of the UK Asian Film Festival (UKAFF). Devasundaram was first appointed to the advisory panel of the BFI India on Film initiative, launched to mark the first UK-India Year of Culture 2017, to his subsequent creative directorship of MTC, working with nine young volunteer filmmakers in London to create MMM. This led him to establish the annual UKAFF Young Curators Lab (YCL 2019), a dedicated BFI-supported UKAFF strand to nurture future film curators (18-28 age range) which selects an Indian Indie film to screen at UKAFF. His research influenced social, cultural and professional engagement with Indian cinema locally, nationally and internationally, and has been instrumental in changing public perceptions of, and scholarly investment in, the cultural richness of Indian independent cinema.

Enhanced awareness of new independent Indian cinema in industry contexts

Memories Through Cinema (2017-18) draws on Devasundaram’s research to present a timeline of Indian cinema’s influence on British South Asian communities. As creative director of the project, Devasundaram demonstrated Indian cinema’s influence on these communities, and used oral testimonies to document intergenerational cultural contributions to Britain and the influence of Indian cinema on diasporic Indian lives in the UK. Alongside this he developed research methodologies in filmmaking, archival research and interview skills as a central aspect of training given to young volunteer filmmakers who participated in the co-creation of the documentary Movies, Memories, Magic. As well as receiving the training, these young filmmakers were involved in the co-creation and development of the entire project, including an accompanying public exhibition at the Nehru Centre in London. Their participation provided them with additional skills in oral history and curation and helped to build cross-cultural connections and community-based impact through the creation and dissemination of the documentary. [5.1, 5.4, 5.9]

Through the programming of public screenings of the documentary, which included audience Q&A sessions, Devasundaram has developed film practice as a means for raising awareness and perceptional change amongst diverse communities [5.1]. Devadsundaram’s programming of the work has also enhanced awareness of new independent Indian cinema in industry contexts nationally and internationally as well as helping to shape a broader cultural reception. Several cultural organisations and academic institutions hosted special screenings of the documentary, including the British Council in Bangalore (2018), London Film Academy (2018), the Cinema Museum, London (2019), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (2019), Wembley Park Summer on Screen Series (2019), Tower Hamlets Local History Library and Archives, Write Idea Literary Festival (2019) and Bioscope Independent Cinema, Johannesburg (2019) [5.1]. As Tower Hamlets Local History Library and Archives noted, the screening enabled important aspects of the research concerning the local community to be made directly available to them:

‘We at the Tower Hamlets Local History Library & Archives note the social and cultural importance of the research contained in the film and its relevance to diverse local communities, especially to our readership which is made up of local residents of Tower Hamlets and beyond. In light of the impact generated from screenings of the film (at the Library, nationally and abroad) the Library would like to include the film in its collection, so it will serve an open access digital repository for the community and hopefully further screenings.’ [5.6]

Devasundaram’s leading role in the Memories Through Cinema project has contributed to increased programming of Indian Indies amongst a wide variety of stakeholders, including the UK Asian Film Festival, Frankfurt New Generations Independent Indian Film Festival and Cinema For All (British Federation of Film Societies) [5.4, 5.5, 5.12]. One of the board of directors from Frankfurt state:

‘For us the main input is still [Devasundaran’s] classification of the Indian Independent films as a full-fledged genre in its own right, based on [Devasundaran’s] profound research. This gave our work an immense push as we now are able to represent our festival with much more confidence […] and gives us the strength to promote and present the films based on a theoretical foundation more targeted and more self-confident. So, the impact of [the research] will sustain with as long as our festivals will exist.’ [5.12]

In turn, this has diversified the cinema landscape, and increased opportunities for the public and professionals alike (and especially young filmmakers and aspiring film curators), to engage with Devasundaram’s research and with new Indian Indie films themselves. Devasundaram was invited by Cinema For All to present at the Community Cinema Conference in 2017 [5.5] when they attested that:

‘[Devasundaram] was key in raising awareness of new independent Indian cinema amongst the community cinema sector, introducing example programme suggestions and outreach recommendations. We have seen a recent 'ripple effect' following Ashvin’s speech, in that many groups have enquired about the availability of films recommended during the keynote and enquiring as to the availability of Ashvin to speak at their own screening nights.’ [5.5]

Influence on curation and programming practices

The national and international impact generated by the Memories Through Cinema project has also served to transform the curation and programming practices of UKAFF. Devasundaram’s documentary has introduced more diverse, socio-political independent film content to the festival programme and to cross-regional audiences and showcased this material at hitherto inaccessible venues. This transformative work was commended by Lord Diljit Rana, a member of the House of Lords, and Honorary Indian Consul in Belfast, at the launch of Devasundaram’s edited volume on Indian Indie cinema at the House of Lords as part of UKAFF 2019. Lord Rana noted the impact of the launch of Devasundaram’s edited volume as ‘important in bringing world-leading research on new Indian cinema to multicultural audiences in London. This public event transpired in a prestigious space that may not otherwise have been informed by or engaged with Indian cinema-related academic research’ [5.2]. Another attendee at the same event, David Somerset, BFI Film Programmer, stated: ‘I came today to develop my understanding of South Asian cinema’ [5.1]. He subsequently testified to the impact of Devasundaram’s research: ‘… The event, (as does the book), opened the minds of film programmers, academics and film enthusiasts alike. After the event I recommended the BFI acquire the book for its library, which it duly did... Dr Devasundaram who has made a significant contribution to scholarship and provided a resource for those who wish to learn more about contemporary independent cinema.’ [5.3]

Following the House of Lords launch of Devasundaram’s book during UKAFF 2019, Lord Rana invited Devasundaram to introduce Movies, Memories, Magic as the first-ever film screened at the Indian Community Centre in Belfast in September 2019, stating that ‘this pioneering event will help the Centre in organising future film-based events to inform and entertain the city’s communities. It has also set the foundations for further film screening events as part of a potential new Belfast edition of the UK Asian Film Festival’ [5.2]. The subsequent success of this facilitated another planned House of Lords event curated by Devasundaram (by invitation from Baroness Manzila Pola Uddin) as part of UKAFF 2020. Devasundaram was due to chair a panel discussion on ‘Soft Power, Stereotypes and Subversion in South Asian Cinema’ at the House of Lords as part of UKAFF 2020, featuring the artistic director of the Mumbai Film Festival as panellist, and screening of Movies, Memories, Magic (see 5.7). Despite postponement of this event due to COVID-19, curated events at the House of Lords will now be an annual fixture of UKAFF.

Through programming activities in relation to Movies, Memories, Magic, Devasundaram has also extended awareness and engagement in Indian diasporic communities internationally. Following two public screenings of Movies, Memories, Magic in Johannesburg in 2019 at the Solomon Mahlangu Theatre and the Bioscope Independent Cinema [5.1], Devasundaram will establish an inaugural independent Indian film festival (moved to 2021 due to COVID-19) at Bioscope Independent Cinema, Johannesburg, in collaboration with Prof. Dilip Menon (Witwatersrand University). By screening a set of research-related films including Movies, Memories, Magic, handpicked by Devasundaram for UKAFF 2021 plus Q&A sessions and a film curation workshop with young people in Johannesburg (akin to Young Curators Lab) Devasundaram will transpose his UKAFF-related transformative impact activities to a South Africa context.

Digital commission to support funding

During the COVID-19 lockdown Movies, Memories, Magic was made freely available on the UKAFF website for a special 7-day streaming period. 4,588 people streamed the film in this period [5.8]. The overall wide-ranging impact of Memories Through Cinema has helped UKAFF gain funding from the Arts Council of England to offer a digital commission to five emerging artists – GBP1,000 each - to create 3min long digital films on the theme Ray of Hope (to commemorate the birth centenary of Satyajit Ray). The selected digital commissions will be presented at the 23rd UK Asian Film Festival in June 2021. [5.10]

Nurturing future young film curators

The success of the young volunteer-driven project paved the way for Devasundaram to establish and conduct the BFI-supported Young Curators Lab (YCL). YCL is a new annual scheme and UKAFF strand to nurture future film curators (18-28 age range), engage them with independent Indian Indie cinema, and empower them to curate an Indian Indie film to screen at UKAFF. This was devised by Devasundaram to equip aspiring professionals with the skills, knowledge and analytical acumen necessary for careers in programming and curation. The initiative, which mirrors the established London Film Festival Young Jury (BFI Film Academy) provides a network and mentoring forum for emerging professionals in the creative industries and enables the acquisition of skills (through training workshops) appropriate to curation career pathways. Devasundaram ran the first YCL workshop as part of UKAFF 2019 and continues custodianship of this initiative through UKAFF 2020, creating intercultural conversations and perceptional change amongst young people interested in Indian Indies and South Asian film curation as a career path [5.4] . Participants in the programme in 2019 and 2020 testified to its benefits [5.1, 5.4]:

• ‘My eyes have opened. There is a world beyond European cinema, and I have learned something new about cultures and traditions I didn’t consider’.

• ‘I didn’t know too much about Indian cinema, but I am so glad I am getting a chance to understand it. There are so many and refreshing films that are important to the global film industry’

• ‘This really reinforced me in my resolve to become a curator/programmer’