Midlands Spotlight on filmmaker Ben Crawford
midlandsmovies • August 12, 2020
Midlands Spotlight – Filmmaker Ben Crawford
Even in lockdown the filmmakers from the Midlands have been hard at work in front of and behind the camera to tell their stories despite the difficulties in production right now.
And none more so than up and coming local filmmaker Ben Crawford who has finished not just one but three films in the past couple of months.
Based in Birmingham, Ben is a part-time postgraduate student at the University of Birmingham.
The three films he’s undertaken during the pandemic are all shorts with two of them being documentaries and both of those take a look at the workings of two foodbanks/meal kitchens.
Ben has captured how difficult life has been during Covid-19 through interviews and footage of the daily processes at these organisations.
First up is 'Selly Oak's Community Response', which Ben prefaces with how a group of University of Birmingham students and local community members felt compelled to act. They set up a grassroots foodbank in one of their houses to distribute donations from students moving away.
Since then the operation has grown rapidly, moving to larger premises, coordinating a complex network of volunteers - all to be able to send parcels to hundreds of people in need.
For more information, how to get involved, donate or receive a parcel: https://www.facebook.com/groups/sellycommunityresponse
The second film is 'Cooperation Birmingham: Solidarity Kitchen' where The Warehouse Cafe, a workers cooperative, had to close but instead they set up the Solidarity Kitchen, a meal donation service helped by over 300 volunteers.
Cooperation Birmingham: https://cooperationbirmingham.org.uk
As well as capturing real life stories Ben has also turned his hand to fiction and his experimental short 'Within, without' follows the travails of someone confined and unable to live how they would like to.
Find out more about Ben’s work at his official website here: https://benjamin-crawford.com
Midlands Movies Awards 2025 Winners On Saturday 21st June the Midlands Movies Awards 2025 took place at the Y Theatre in Leicester. The nominations for the awards can be found here and the winners are announced below: Best Short Film (winner chosen by VIP jury panel member RICHARD ARMITAGE) The Other by Christopher Bevan Best Feature (sponsored by Chrome Video) Derelict by Jonathan Zaurin Best Director Emma Hodgkinson for No Worries If Not! Best Actress in a Leading Role Suzanne Fulton for Derelict Best Actor in a Leading Role Adam Hovarth for The Other Best Actor in a Supporting Role Jamie Mutambirwa for At What Cost Best Actress in a Supporting Role Charlotte Claypole for Teddy and The Mountain Best Animated Film Grave by Oz Durose Best Documentary I Just want to be a Superhero by Joey Lever Best Visual & Special Effects Steve Best & Liam Banks for Run For Your Life! Best Writing (Original or adapted screenplay) Charles Strider for A Glass House Best Costume & Makeup & Hairstyling Carolina Rodrigues and Aspasia Vrouva for Living Dolls Best Music (Score or song) Sadé Nicole Davis & the team for Love Is…? Best Sound (Editing or Mixing) Chas Sheppard for No Worries If Not! Best Cinematography Billy Evans for Ascend Best Editing Christina Hill for You Alright Mate
The sound of a noisy hoover is the unlikely beginning of a new film from first-time filmmaker Nicholas Georghiou. A short about domestic help, the film explores a strange situation in a hotel room where all is not what it seems.
The inaugural Forward Film & Television Festival makes its debut and will be spotlighting bold new voices and positioning Birmingham as a major player in the screen industries.
Returning for its third and biggest year yet, the Mansfield Town Film Festival (MTFF) runs from Friday 25th to Sunday 27th July 2025 ay Mansfield Palace Theatre.