“Anyone
of any age and background can sit and watch this film, understand it, learn
from it and emotionally connect to it”.— Dr Patricia
Leavy in The Qualitative
Report
The short film, Rufus
Stone, (Kip
Jones, Author and Executive Producer), seems to move from strength to
strength. The movie was based on research as part of Research Councils UK funded research at Bournemouth University and
a project of the national New Dynamics of
Ageing programme.
Harry Kershaw, Martha
Myers-Lowe & Tom Kane
Rufus Stone was
screened as part of an ESRC
Festival of Social Science event at BU in November for representatives
of health and social care organisations. Participants went away from the day of
activities with new knowledge about growing older as gay or lesbian in rural
settings. Attendees each received a set of Method Deck cards produced by the
research team to encourage their own groups in discussion and activities around
these issues.
A Masterclass is in the planning stages for late April where
representatives from both statutory and voluntary groups can come to
Bournemouth for two days, learn about our research, view the film and take part
in exercises drawn from the Method Deck. They then will be equipped to return
to their groups with training in organising their own meaningful exercises
around interfacing with older gay and lesbian citizens in their organisations.
By partaking in the two days of activities, participants will receive copies of
the Method Deck and the film. Stay tuned
for details.
Freshers on HSC’s “Exploring Evidence to Guide Practice’
unit as well as Social Work students have had recent screenings as part of
their learning experiences. There will be future opportunities for BU students
to take advantage of this ‘home grown’ successful learning resource.
The film was screened in January at Birkbeck/University of
London’s very modern Gordon Square cinema in Bloomsbury for their Doing
Critical Social Research seminar series. A lively discussion followed with what seemed a very
appreciative audience.
Cambridge University welcomes Rufus to the Cambridge Arts Picturehouse cinema on
the 22nd of February at 4 p.m. as part of their Arts and Science
Researcher Forum. A Q&A
with Jones and Rufus Stone’s director,
Josh Appignanesi, will follow the screening, BU’s Trevor Hearing will moderate.
There will be a screening of Rufus Stone in March at Talbot campus hosted by BU Media School’s
Narrative Group. Following the film, Jones will discuss the use of narrative research,
biography and autobiography in creating the film’s story and script. Great chance to catch the film if you
haven’t seen it already. 18 March, Kimmeridge (KG03) at 1 p.m.
Community screenings at local cinemas in
Poole and Wareham are set for the BU Festival
of Learning on June 5th at the Lighthouse and June 12th at the Rex. Both start at 1 p.m. with refreshments and conversation to
follow. We are particularly hoping to draw crowds of a range of ages and
backgrounds from local communities.
William
Gaunt, Lin Blakley & Niall Buggy
For information,
registration and/or ticket details for all future screenings, check the sidebar
on Rufus Stone the
movie BU microsite.
Buzz around the film has also hit the net. The Sociological Imagination features
the trailer for the film on its pages and discusses ‘Turning
Research into Film’. The Qualitative
Report frequently features updates about Rufus Stone in its Weekly Report and recently ran a review of the film by
author and educator, Patricia Leavy.
London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) “Impact of Social Science” web pages
recently interviewed Kip Jones about Rufus
Stone. Topics covered include: “How did Rufus Stone come about?” “What is
the relationship between the research and the film?” and “What advice to you
have for social scientists interested in using tools from the arts?”
5 Minutes with Kip Jones: “we engage in the creative process and open new doors for communication”.
5 Minutes with Kip Jones: “we engage in the creative process and open new doors for communication”.
As well as winning two awards at the prestigious Rhode
Island International Film Festival last summer, the film has also recently
featured in the Torin (Italy) Film Festival and the UK Jewish Film Festival in
London.
An academic article by HSC’s Kip Jones, Lee-Ann Fenge, Rosie
Read and Marilyn Cash goes live in Forum:Qualitative Social Research, an on-line journal, shortly. The paper
outlines the research behind the film, then presents in-depth life stories of four
of the research participants.
Jones has also recently published , “Connecting Research with
Communities through Performative Social Science”, which makes a case for the
potential of arts-based social science to reach audiences and engage
communities.
