Clarity Productions is a dynamic, ambitious, forward-thinking niche producer of intelligent, high-quality factual programmes with a strong focus on scientific, social and/or environmental content. The company aims to produce accessible, intelligent and powerful documentary that is both engaging and thought-provoking whilst also entertaining and popular. Important, challenging and popular need not be contradictory termsÉ Clarity Productions was established in August 2004 by Scottish producer Sarah Tierney, who combines a background in environmental biology with diverse experience of documentary, drama and live-broadcast production. Sarah has worked on projects in DV and film, and on locations including the UK, India, Ukraine and Australia. Several of these projects have been award winning, including the 2005 Oscar¨-nominated short film "Little Terrorist".
"Flowers Don't Grow Here" - filmed over four months in Ukraine and told through the eyes of a gang of Kiev's street kids - offers an intimate and uncompromising portrayal of young people paying the ultimate price for political reform. Young mothers, united siblings, close friends and sworn enemies form a troubling underworld of society, governed by their own rules, and haunted by prostitution, substance abuse, crime, violence and even murder... http://www.flowersdontgrowhere.com/
Filmed over 30 months - by author, teacher and campaigner, Joe Jenkins Ð ÒContempt of ConscienceÓ tells the remarkable story of the current campaign to recognise, and practically implement, conscientious objection to military conflict. As global military spending tops $1 trillion dollars - for the first time since the Cold War Ð ÒContempt of ConscienceÓ argues that physical conscription has been replaced by financial conscription, making every UK taxpayer an active, and often unwitting, conscript of war. That the use of taxes to fund military causes places the smoking gun firmly in taxpayers handsÉ
Young people aged 16-25 are twice as likely to be unemployed compared to their older counterparts in the UK labour market. Research points to lower educational attainment and lack of formal qualifications as the primary cause of this dichotomy. And for those without qualifications the barriers are multipliedÉ In a response to this problem, the Princes Trust have launched a series of targeted training courses for young people, helping them to ÒGet IntoÉÓ sustainable careers in a range of industries - each suffering from a shortage of new entrants - including construction, retail and hospitality. The eight-week ÒGet Into CookingÓ programme Ð in partnership with Glasgow City Council - provides a fantastic opportunity for a group of unemployed young Scots to train as apprentice chefs. The eight-week training course includes classroom and practical sessions, industry work experience and a one-week residential at the Nick Nairn Cook School. The documentary follows the group throughout the ÒGet Into CookingÓ course, from initial practical sessions through to industry interviews, as they take their first steps towards a career in hospitality.
More than 750,000 people in the UK have dementia and, as we are increasingly living longer, this number is growing. Dementia affects one person in 20 over the age of 65, and one person in five over the age of 80. Yet, as a condition, dementia remains largely misunderstood. Creative documentary series ÒLosing MyselfÓ reveals the personal experiences of four individuals with dementia, portraying the fractured and somewhat timeless nature of their lives. ÒLosing MyselfÓ was commissioned by Kate Vogel for Channel 4Õs ÔThree Minute WondersÕ strand and will be broadcast Monday 12th to Thursday 15th of February 2007 at 7.55pm. Prof. June Andrews, Director of the Dementia Services Development Centre at the University of Stirling, made the following comment on the series: "ÉThese short films tell the story of those old people in a way that is emotionally arresting. Four people with dementia were captured in moments of breathtaking clarity, and the memorial to those people will be the use we can make of this material to influence policy and services. ÉThese films will help us to make change happen."
Creative documentary series ÒScience ScamsÓ combines drama reconstruction and animation to reveal some of the greatest but lesser known scientific frauds from history. The five episodes include: ÒBeringerÕs Lying StonesÓ tells the story of one manÕs ill-fated search for scientific proof of divine creation. ÒMeinertzhagen: Undercover OrnithologistÓ chronicles the extraordinary life of a WWI hero with a dangerous ambition for scientific fame. ÒElizaldeÕs Lost EdenÓ tells the extraordinary story of a stone-age tribe discovered deep in the Philippine jungle in the 1970s. ÒKempelenÕs Chess Playing AutomatonÓ is the story of a mysterious technological marvel of the 19th century. ÒRedhefferÕs Perpetual Motion MachineÓ tells how one man gifted the holy grail of engineering to the world. ÒScience ScamsÓ was commissioned by Mark Downie for Channel 4 Daytime and will be have multiple broadcasts throughout 2007. The first screening of the series will be Monday 5th to Friday 9th February 2007 at 1.20pm on Channel 4.
Filmed in the remote North West frontier provinces of Pakistan, ÒThe Other Side of the Tora BoraÓ will exclusively reveal Directed by new filmmaker Alia Ayub Ð a first-generation American whose family are from the Kurram Agency which borders Afghanistan Ð returned to her family village in the summer of 2006 to see for herself how life has changed since the area was thrust into the international media spotlight following events in 2001.
