The New Ten Commandments - Scottish-made Human Rights Documentary

[TN10C]

The New Ten Commandments - Cinema Trailer

The New Ten Commandments is a feature-length documentary film which premiered at the Edinburgh International Film Festival in 2008.

The film was produced by Nick Higgins from Lansdowne Productions and Noémie Mendelle from the Scottish Documentary Institute and has 10 film-chapter directors for each of the 10 chapters of the film - Kenny Glenaan, Douglas Gordon, Nick Higgins, Irvine Welsh, Mark Cousins, Sana Bilgrami, Alice Nelson, Tilda Swinton, Doug Aubrey, David Graham Scott, Anna Jones.

The film's unifying theme is human rights in Scotland with each chapter illustrating one of the "New Ten Commandments" - 10 articles chosen from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The 10 film chapters of The New Ten Commandments

• 1. The Right to Freedom of Assembly - Director, David Graham Scott
• 2. The Right not to be enslaved - Director, Nick Higgins
• 3. The Right to a fair trial - Director, Sana Bilgrami
• 4. The Right to freedom of expression - Director, Doug Aubrey
• 5. The Right to life - Director, Kenny Glenaan
• 6. The Right to liberty - Directors, Irvine Welsh & Mark Cousins
• 7. The Right not to be tortured - Director, Douglas Gordon
• 8. The Right to asylum - Director, Anna Jones
• 9. The Right to privacy - Director, Alice Nelson
• 10. The Right to freedom of thought - Directors, Mark Cousins & Tilda Swinton

Introduction

There is no such thing as a “pure” culture.

The horrors perpetrated during the Second World War in the name of such a mistaken belief led largely to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948.

The United Nations adopted this document in an attempt to make human rights a reality for everyone. Every single person has rights and each one of us has the duty to stand up, not just for our own rights, but also for those of others.

60 years on, Scotland now has its own Parliament and a multi-cultural population that can trace its ancestors not only to refugees from the Second World War and the subsequent decolonisation of the now-defunct British Empire, but also to more recent political and geographical upheavals. The result is a vibrant, integrated and occasionally challenging culture within which stories of human rights abuses sit alongside tales of human rights recognition.

To celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Scotland’s most talented filmmakers and visual artists have collectively created The New Ten Commandments.

United by a single theme – Human Rights in Scotland – these films communicate a variety of artistic visions whilst exploring the real life stories of those for whom the Universal Declaration has intimate meaning. With a rights culture that tackles issues surrounding torture, slavery, liberty, justice, privacy, freedom of thought, expression and assembly, the right to asylum as well as the right to life, the films are both an emotionally powerful journey and an exercise in passionate filmmaking of the highest calibre.

Chapter 1

01 The Right to Freedom of Assembly

Article 20

1. Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.

2. No one may be compelled to belong to an association.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Directed by David Graham Scott

We follow Scotland’s self-proclaimed National Standard Bearer, Peter Dow, as he prepares for a very confrontational day of protest. Peter cuts a curious figure with his pseudo military uniform and inflammatory placard declaring his political beliefs. His target this time is the Queen as she opens the Scottish parliament. His mission is to see her kicked out of the country. Peter’s story is very much the archetype of the ‘little man’ versus the might of the establishment.

Just how will this one-man Scottish Republican army fair on the day of the protest? Will he be able to avoid arrest and get his message across to the masses, and more importantly, the Queen?

Chapter 2

02 The Right not to be Enslaved

Article 4

No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Directed by Nick Higgins

It has recently been estimated that there are some 6000 women working in Scotland as sex slaves.

This film tells the true stories of women forced to sell their bodies for sex on the city centre streets of Glasgow and behind the closed doors of suburbia.

An African woman recounts her horrific experience of being trafficked into the UK and being forced to work as a prostitute. Whilst several women who continue to find themselves forced onto the streets of Glasgow in a desperate effort to feed their drug addiction share their experiences of modern day slavery

Chapter 3

03 The Right to a Fair Trial
Article 4

Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Directed by Sana Bilgrami

For 20 years Jim Swire has been trying to find out the truth about who was responsible for the death of his daughter on Pan Am flight 103. Whilst the high profile Lockerbie trial led to the conviction of Mohamed Al Megrahi in 2001, Jim like many others, is convinced that the trial was unfair and continues his struggle

Chapter 4

04 The Right to Freedom of Expression

Article 19

Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.


The Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Directed by Doug Aubrey

17 years ago, Aamer Anwar, was beaten up by the police and told, “This is what happens to black boys with big mouths.”

Aamer took on the police and judiciary in a private prosecution and won his case.

17 years on and Aamer, now Scotland’s leading human rights lawyer, is in trouble for speaking out on behalf of his client, Atif Siddique in Scotland’s first Islamist terrorist trial.

He is the first solicitor ever charged in the UK with Contempt of Court.

If found guilty, the case could have serious implications for all legal representatives, not only in the UK and across Europe, but also for anyone who dares to speak out against the state


Chapter 5

05 The Right to Life

Article 3

Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Directed by Kenny Glenaan

A recent Scottish Executive study revealed that young men in Scotland are twice as likely to commit suicide than those in England. The study also revealed that those in areas of high deprivation are seven times more likely to take their own lives than those in better off parts of Scotland. Although often not seen or heard about, most analysts believe that the main reason for such high suicide rates is a sense of hopelessness towards the future.

The right to life puts faces to these shocking statistics and asks the question: do young men in the most socially deprived areas of Scotland have the right to life?

[TN10C]

Chapter 6

06 The Right to Liberty

Article 3

Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Directed by Irvine Welsh & Mark Cousins

In January 1987, Scottish born, Kenny Richey was sentenced to the electric chair in the USA. Later, when new legislation blocked the use of the electric chair, making injections the State’s only form of execution, he was sentenced to lethal injection.

Thirteen dates were set for Richey’s execution, but the dates were all postponed. Kenny always maintained his innocence.

In 2008 he was released. This film recounts through archive footage the life Richey missed while in prison.

Chapter 7

07 The Right not to be Tortured

Article 5

No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.


The Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Directed by Douglas Gordon

Powerfully employing the visual metaphor of treating humans as animals, acclaimed Scottish artist Douglas Gordon creates an atmospheric and menacing meditation on the terror of torture.

Chapter 8

08 The Right to Asylum

Article 14

Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.

This right may not be invoked in the case of prosecutions genuinely arising from non-political crimes or from acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Directed by Anna Jones

Noreen has lived for 18 years on the 17th floor of a high rise block in Glasgow. When the council started housing asylum seekers in her area she got to know many of them and some became friends. The Home Office policy of arresting and detaining asylum seekers whose appeal process was coming to an end meant that suddenly her neighbours were being woken from their beds at dawn, doors beaten down, and taken away in handcuffs. She decided to do something about it.

Arnaud is 18, from Congo but grew up in Glasgow. The estate where he was housed was in a deprived area and some kids used to assault him – as one of the only black faces in the area he was a target. Music has helped him come through difficult times – he is a rapper with a powerful voice and big dreams for the future.

Safinah comes from Uganda. She is in her 20s and when she arrived she was pregnant with her daughter Miriam. She is still going through her asylum process.

This film explores these 3 stories and the sense of powerlessness experienced by those living with the threat of deportation over their heads.

Chapter 9

09 The Right to Privacy

Article 12

No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.


The Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Directed by Alice Nelson

“Since when was engaging in sexual activity behind closed doors with an inanimate object a crime, particularly as there was no risk to anyone, other than potentially himself?”

A man from Scotland was charged with three years probation and placed on the Sex Offender’s Register for having sex with his bike. This humorous animation explores the rather serious matter of our right to privacy.

Chapter 10

10 The Right to Freedom of Thought

Article 18

Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Directed by Mark Cousins & Tilda Swinton

Presented in the form of letter to her 8 year old son, Tilda Swinton explains why the freedom of thought is so important to her. Swinton and Mark Cousins make a passionate call for creativity and a defence of the visual arts, calling for a level playing field in film exhibition so that magical, otherworldly cinema has a chance of being seen.

[TN10C]

Director Biographies


David Graham Scott: The Right to Freedom of Assembly

David Graham Scott is a controversial Glasgow-based documentary filmmaker and inspirational public speaker on drug addiction. His highly authored films are unique visions of the world he inhabits and the offbeat characters he encounters. He has experience in directing, pitching new ideas, researching and DV camera operation.

He is also a trained film archivist and is a university graduate in Film Theory/Art History. David has worked on hard-hitting projects including WireBurners, Detox or Die and The Dirty Digger. His films have aired across the BBC at both local (BBC Scotland) and national (network) level.


Nick Higgins: The Right not to be Enslaved

Nick Higgins has been the managing-director of Lansdowne Productions since 2004. His work as a director and producer has resulted in several awards, and most recently the WACCS/SIGNIS Best Human Rights Documentary Award for 2007 was presented to his first feature length production, A Massacre Foretold. He has worked with many international broadcasters including; YLE (Finland), VPRO (the Netherlands) and ZDF (Germany) and his films continue to be screened at festivals throughout the world. Nick is also the Programme Director of Visual & Cultural Studies at the University of Edinburgh.


Sana Bilgrami: The Right to a Fair Trial

Sana Bilgrami, born in 1974 in Pakistan, is a documentary filmmaker and a lecturer at Napier University in Edinburgh. She studied philosophy and film at McGill University in Canada. Her Masters degree film at the Edinburgh College of Art, Under my Skin (2001), won awards at Scottish Students on Screen, was shortlisted for an award at Edinburgh Film Festival, and won Best Documentary at Chichester Film Festival. Her broadcast credits as director include Tree Fellers (2004, STV), shortlisted for a BAFTA Scotland, and Across the Waters (2004, BBC Scotland), shortlisted for a Satyajit Ray Award, and her films are screened at festivals internationally.


Doug Aubrey: The Right to Freedom of Expression

Doug Aubrey started out as a video artist and experimental film maker in the eighties, before moving on to extensively document the numerous Yugoslav conflicts in a number of internationally acclaimed documentaries. In 2002 he jointly set up Autonomi along with Berlin-Bear winning producer Marie Olesen. International one-off docs and series include Victim of Geography, World of Skinhead, A Different Pitch, See You in the Next War and A Glittering Haze. Most recently Marie and Doug produced Wasted Nation and Harrigan’s Beat for BBC1 Scotland, as well as As It Is, which made front page headlines in the Scottish tabloids. Autonomi is currently completing Kurdi a five-year documentary feature filmed in Scotland and the Middle East.


Kenny Glenaan: The Right to Life

Scottish based former actor Kenny Glenaan is now best known as an award-winning director. His first feature film Gas Attack won the Michael Power Award for Best British feature at Edinburgh in 2001. His second film Yasmin, the story of a British Muslim woman whose life change in the aftermath of September 11 won awards at Locarno International Film Festival and Dinard British Film Festival. His latest fiction feature film Summer, (with Robert Carlyle) premiered at EIFF 2008 (nominated for the Michael Powell Award).


Irvine Welsh: The Right to Liberty

Irvine Welsh originally from Leith in Edinburgh is an acclaimed contemporary Scottish novelist. Irvine Welsh is the author of ten works of fiction, including Trainspotting. He has also written some stage and screenplays as well as directing several short films.


Mark Cousins: The Right to Liberty & The Right to Freedom of Thought

Mark Cousins is a Belfast born filmmaker, author and curator. The subjects of his documentaries have included Neo-Nazism, the artist Ian Hamilton Finlay, the first Gulf War, the Irish singer Daniel O’Donnell, and Iranian cinema. He was director of the Edinburgh Film Festival and has guest-curated festivals in Mexico, Brazil, Canada, and across the UK. He presented the BBC’s Moviedrome and Scene by Scene for five years. Cousins’ books include Imaging Reality: The Faber Book of Documentary (co-edited with Kevin Macdonald), The Story of Film (published around the world) and the forthcoming Watching. Real. People. Elsewhere. He is Prospect’s film critic. He co-established the charity Scottish Kids Are Making Movies, is producing Irvine Welsh’s debut feature film The Man Who Walks, co-runs 4way Pictures with Antonia Bird, Robert Carlyle and Welsh, was development producer on Sylvain Chomet’s The Illusionist, and is making an eight hour history of cinema.


Tilda Swinton: The Right to Freedom of Thought

Scottish actor Tilda Swinton has played many lead roles in European art films such as Caravaggio (1986) and Orlando (1992). She has also had numerous parts in American mainstream films such as The Deep End (2001) and Vanilla Sky (2001). More recently, Tilda Swinton received both a Golden Globe and the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in the legal thriller Michael Clayton (2007) also starring George Clooney.


Douglas Gordon: The Right not to be Tortured

Douglas Gordon was born in Glasgow in 1966. He won the Turner Prize in 1996 and has had major solo exhibitions at Tate Liverpool (2000), Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (2001), The Hayward Gallery, London (2002) and Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven (2003). In 2005, he curated ‘The Vanity of Allegory‘, an exhibition at the Deutsche Guggenheim, Berlin and released the film ‘Zidane – A 21st Century Portrait’. Recent solo exhibitions include ‘Superhumanatural’ at the National Gallery of Scotland (2007), ‘Between Darkness and Light‘ at the Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Wolfsburg (2007), and ‘Timeline’ at MoMA, New York (2006). Upcoming solo exhibition at the Yvon Lambert Collection and the Palais des Papes, Avignon in July 2008. Gordon lives and works in Glasgow, Berlin and New York.



Anna Jones: The Right to Asylum

Anna studied at the National Film & Television School for her MA in Documentary Direction in 2005. She has directed a number of documentaries since 2001, her first short winning ‘Best New Scottish Documentary’ at the Edinburgh Film Festival and recently her NFTS film ‘A Sense of Life’ screening at the Sheffield Documentary Festival. Her broadcast credits include an observational film about an Iraqi family for STV and a series of shorts about telephone boxes for Channel 4. She has also worked on numerous independent and community documentaries, some of which have screened internationally at festivals and won several awards. Her recent work has been as film-maker in residence for Cromarty Arts Trust, making a film with Polish migrants in the Highlands and making a short doc filmed in Niger for Save the Children.


Alice Nelson: The Right to Privacy

In 2003, Alice directed her first film, Vocation, funded through the Small Wonders Scheme/National Lottery. In 2005 she was commissioned by Scottish Documentary Institute to make A Difficult Case through the Bridging the Gap documentary funding scheme. A Map With Gaps (2006) was her third short film, which she directed and produced. It was selected for over 40 festivals worldwide, and has won ten awards including the Jury Award for Best Short Documentary at Slamdance Film Festival 2007, Park City, U.S.A. in 2007 Alice was commissioned by Channel 4 to direct five short documentaries on the greatest scientific hoaxes and scams through history: Science Scams (tx: 2007/8) Alice also directed a series of four short films called Losing Myself on the experiences of four elderly people with dementia – one episode of which, Losing Myself: Annie won a Scottish BAFTA for Best Short Film (2007).

Links

The New Ten Commandments website

The New Ten Commandments on the Scottish Documentary Institute website

Wikipedia - "The New Ten Commandments"

[Mr Peter Dow]

Originally Posted by TN10C

Chapter 1

01 The Right to Freedom of Assembly

Article 20

1. Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.

2. No one may be compelled to belong to an association.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Directed by David Graham Scott

We follow Scotland’s self-proclaimed National Standard Bearer, Peter Dow, as he prepares for a very confrontational day of protest. Peter cuts a curious figure with his pseudo military uniform and inflammatory placard declaring his political beliefs. His target this time is the Queen as she opens the Scottish parliament. His mission is to see her kicked out of the country. Peter’s story is very much the archetype of the ‘little man’ versus the might of the establishment.

Just how will this one-man Scottish Republican army fair on the day of the protest? Will he be able to avoid arrest and get his message across to the masses, and more importantly, the Queen?

I have uploaded a version of this chapter in which I star to YouTube and named it -

Scottish republican socialist, author and protester (Video profile)

Now with more than 10,000 views!

[Lachlan09]

Ten New Commandments No 10.999999/71a.

Thou shalt not Tweet about anything remotely about Islam or the US of A lest thou wantest banned from said US of A or banged up in a less-than-salubrious arab jail.

[tig]

anywhere we can watch the whole film?