This screening has been programmed as part of Towner's Centenary celebrations on Saturday 27 May. For more information on other parts of the programme, please see Towner's website.
Dir: various | UK | 2022 (New Commissions) & 1935-1988 (Archive Films) 85 mins (New Commissions 34 mins & Archive Films 51 mins) | Documentary shorts
We’re told we all have a right to roam in the countryside – but does that apply to everyone equally?Right of Way is a new feature-length programme that mixes stunning new artists’ commissions with historical archive films to explore questions of access and inclusion in the UK countryside. This programme is presented by the ICO and LUX and supported by the BFI Film Audience Network and Arts Council England. It’s inspired by the foundation of the National Trails. Set up to resist sweeping industrialisation, these protected landscapes were created with a vision to ‘connect people to the rural landscape’. But during the COVID-19 pandemic – as people realised anew the importance of nature and open spaces for our health and mental wellbeing – inequalities of access to rural land were being exposed, revealing the disconnect felt by millions of people towards the UK countryside.
A 2019 government review found that many Black, Asian and ethnically diverse people view the countryside as an ‘irrelevant white, middle-class club’, concluding that this divide is only going to widen as society changes and ‘the countryside will end up being irrelevant to the country that actually exists’.The new commissions interrupt and challenge the enduring perception of the rural idyll as an untouched and unchanging space where time stands still. What happens when Black, Asian and other ethnically diverse people enter these landscapes? How can our natural spaces be homes to protest, trespassing, activism and raves? Paired with archive films that show that the life of the countryside contains multitudes and disrupt simple narratives, this programme is a terrific platform for debate on historical and contemporary discussions about who has a right to the great outdoors and who is excluded from it.
Please note: black strangers and Syncopated Green contain sequences with flashing lights, which may be unsuitable for viewers with photosensitive epilepsy.
Refund Policy: Please be aware all tickets are non-refundable and non-transferable to another event. If you are unable to make an event, tickets can be passed to someone else but the original booker's details will remain in our system.
Access Information: Blue badge parking is available alongside the plaza to the front of Towner, along with drop off bays (max 30mins waiting). Further blue badge spaces available in College Rd Car Park. The Cinema is on the ground floor and the front row of seats are on level ground. All other seats are raked, with stairs & handrail. There is an induction loop. If you have any specific access requirements, please get in touch with us on towner@townereastbourne.org.uk or 01323 434670.