David Goldblatt, Michael O’Mahony and Martin Polley have all written books about different aspects of the Olympics – how to watch them, the contribution made to them over the years by a wide range of visual material, and a look at the 400 year history of the British Olympics – yes 400 years!!
Come and learn more at an illustrated talk at 18:00 Wednesday 18 July at Watershed, full details here
Update – you can now see a recording of this talk on D Shed.
Journalist Pat Butcher looks back at a golden age of British middle distance running – in particular Steve Ovett and Sebastian Coe, and other intense rivalries that have marked the century and a half of organised athletics. For details please visit Watershed’s main website
Yesterday afternoon, David Goldblatt and co-author Johnny Acton were guests on Steve Wright in the Afternoon, talking about their book How to Watch the Olympics. You can listen to the interview here (maybe only for a few days so be quick!), and if you like the sound of this invaluable guide to THE summer’s sporting feature you can get a copy from Watershed’s Box Office!
The screening and award event at M Shed on Friday was a great evening – such a wide range of subjects had been filmed and edited in 117 hours, and they (almost!) all had Bristol as a brilliant backdrop and (almost!) all included sport, play or games – as required in the brief!! 24 films, one winner – ‘Wind’ by Bearded Gnomes! We’ll post a link when you can see it online. (more…)
It’s been fantastic weather for the teams of film-makers who’ve signed up for the 0117 Encounters Film Challenge and we’ve been visiting some of the crews on location in Bristol – see flickr slideshow
The theme of the Challenge ties in with M Shed’s content of Bristol People, Bristol Places and Bristol Life but with inspiration from sport, games and play and the 26 registered teams have been covering a range of sport-related subjects from ping-pong to power boat racing! One team, who would only say there was an element of mystery in their film, had permission to film the arrival of the Olympic Torch arriving in the Harbourside from the roof of M Shed – as shown in feature image here! (more…)
At the launch of his new book How to Watch the Olympics on November 25th, David Goldblatt treated the audience to some of the odder moments of Olympic history – the accidental chargrilling of hundreds of Olympic doves by the lighting of the torch at Seoul, the ferocious competition between women BMX competitors and the bizarre world of synchronised swimming, originating apparently on the Thames in 1726 with Benjamin Franklin – he called it ‘ornamental swimming’ and also invented the swimming flipper.
These are just a handful of fascinating facts from David’s talk that can also be found – in the company of many more, in his book which can be bought at Watershed Box Office – great for Christmas presents!
UPDATE – see the video of the Q & A session on dShed
The athlete and Olympic medalist Tommie Smith is visiting Watershed for a RELAYS supported event to hold a Q&A session to accompany the documentary ‘Return To Mexico City’, which focusses on the Black Power salute during the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City. The event is on Wednesday 10th August, 6.00 pm – for more details and how to book go to Watershed online
We’re just finalising details for this year’s Media Literacy workshops for secondary schools (follow Media Literacy tag on the right to see information on previous years’ workshops) and thought we’d tell you a little bit about our plans and the theme “Why study the Olympics?”!! Here’s an introduction to the topic for teachers by the workshop leader David Goldblatt:
“The Summer Olympics are an extraordinary event. What began as an obscure, eccentric Hellenic revival and sporting gymkhana has become one of the world’s most important and most watched public spectacles. Now over a century old, they have survived every twist and turn of global history and grown ever larger. Up to six years in the making, the scale of a modern Olympic games is immense: 20,000, athletes, from over 200 countries, compete in 23 sports over three weeks, and most of the planet will be watching some of it. (more…)
