Ageing & Creativity (Theme for 2018-19)

Films examining the value of creativity in later life. This collection features five student films produced by second year Keele Media students as part of their study on MDS 20032 Documentary Theory & Practice. The films were produced in collaboration with members of the Ages & Stages Theatre Company, a group made up of older people, based at the New Vic Theatre, Necastle-under-Lyme. The films examine life-stories of individual members of the company, highlighting how engagement with the creative arts allowed for the overcoming of significant personal challenges for many of them. Jill Rezzano (Head of Education, New Vic and Artistic Director of Ages & Stages) lauded the student films as 'an impressive intergenerational collaboration...a superb set of films capturing the spirit and vibrancy of the people involved, but also very honest, insightful and revealing'. The collection also includes two films by Dr Pawas Bisht: ‘(Not) Acting Our Age’ (2019), a collective portrait of the Ages & Stages company and ‘Back to the Drawing Board’ (2017), an intimate portrait of two of post-war Britain’s most prolific designers, Pat Albeck & Peter Rice, in their old age, reflecting on their long and rich careers.