Tipping Point North South
Tipping Point North South is a co-operative that supports and initiates original, creative, campaign-driven projects that advance a social justice agenda – often international and occasionally domestic. It is a ‘for the benefit of community’ co-operative, set up to work in the film and creative industries as well as within the not-for-profit sector, with colleagues and partners in the international NGO campaign coninmmunity. Oftentimes, the creative work is used to illustrate the campaigning work for both public and opinion-formers alike.
All our work, past and present, seeks to either break new issues and/or add creative value to existing but nevertheless challenging issues. Being small and independent gives us the freedom and flexibility to develop and pursue what we consider to be valuable contributions and ‘fresh’ thinking while benefitting from working alongside established organisations.
All our various creative work – films & public events – has secured (sometimes regular) support from well known figures including Ken Loach, Brian Eno, Paul Mason, Owen Jones, Adjoa Andoh, Miriam Margolyes, Jeremy Hardy, Paterson Joseph, Sam West, Mark Steel, Danny Glover, Jon Snow, Melvyn Bragg.
We have a management committee of seven, drawn from development NGO sector and creative industries, to reflect the dual nature of our work. Quality and ethical practice are key to all we do.
Highlights of Past Work
The primary TPNS focus 2010-2015 was its Tipping Point Film Fund activity supporting cinema documentary development and production, alongside social-justice films screenings and other public events whilst developing its campaigning work at the same time. Since 2016, its primary focus has been (often inter-related) single issue campaigns (Make Apartheid History/Palestine, the ‘War on Drugs’ and runaway military spending / links to international development). Since 2018, its military spending/climate change work has become its primary campaign project. In all cases, where relevant, we have used film to illustrate the wider perspective/context.
FILMS AND EVENTS
Tipping Point Film Fund’s films are critically acclaimed international cinema documentaries and continue to screen around the world.
OPEN BETHLEHEM Funder and Co-Producer
Film UK. 35,000 people saw the film in cinemas and other venues across the country; VIP screening for 600 decision-makers hosted by Melvyn Bragg. The Guardian’s film of the week (recommended by Peter Bradshaw). Open Bethlehem went on to tour the Middle East and then USA over a two year period (2016/2017) “One of the most remarkable and moving documentaries I have seen, about this unreported story. The tragedy of the Palestinians encapsulated in the life of one family and one town – Bethlehem. See the film.” Jon Snow
WE ARE MANY Funder and Executive Producer
Film UK. Released at 82 cinema sites around the country. Q+A hosted by Jon Snow, with panel Damon Albarn, Greg Wise, Amir Amirani, Philippe Sands QC, Lindsey German and Omid Djalili; 4* reviews across the board; 162,000 views of trailer on YouTube. Significant press achieved (offline and online) and public debate generated about the power of protest in general and the peace movement in particular through the lens of Iraq and making the case that the peace movement remains a vital actor on the issue of UK foreign policy-making; the film re-energised the peace movement through the sharing of its story. The film connects with our own Five Per Cent Campaign on runaway military spending.
Between 2010-14, while our two films were in production, we created the TPFF film club. We hosted 60+ sold –out screenings + Q&As at festivals (Greenbelt, Glastonbury) and cinemas around the UK, with a London base at the Lexi Cinema, West London.
BETHLEHEM UNWRAPPED Event Co-Producer
EVENT & SHORT DOCUMENTARY This event raised awareness about the reality of Bethlehem at Christmas behind the WALL. Life-size replica wall built in grounds St James Piccadilly. 30,000 came to the WALL in Piccadilly; 2000 attended festival events (music, comedy, dance, cuisine, debate). Extensive media coverage. A short trailer of the B/U WALL and festival was seen 60,000 times on YouTube (UK, USA, Middle East, South America). ‘
One of the most effective public campaign moments on Palestine’ Linda Ramsden, UK Director, Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions
MAKE APARTHEID HISTORY (MAH) Founder and Events Producer
MAH was the follow-up to Bethlehem Unwrapped. MAH’s mission is to contextualise the Palestinian struggle in the wider historical context of civil rights and anti-apartheid struggles. MAH work through public events and film-making. It is supported by a number of high-profile public figures from UK, Palestine, South Africa. It launched at the Southbank with readings by Paterson Joseph, Miriam Margolyes, Kika Markham, Sam West, Leila Sansour and Jeremy Hardy. We have built a considerable video gallery of in-house films which is widely shared in UK and internationally and by larger NGOs working on the issue. Our MAH Wall Animation had 50,000 views on social media and 3,000 shares, reaching 245,000.
ATTLEE NATION Event Producer
Festival Weekend London October 2017. The first Attlee event of its kind designed to celebrate his legacy and fill in some of the gaps of a man often called ‘Britain’s greatest 20th century Prime Minister’ How do we prize and protect the notion of ‘generosity towards the future’ so powerfully embodied in the Attlee administration? Ken Loach, Melissa Benn, Rachel Holmes, Jeremy Hardy, Richard Attlee & John Christensen were among the many who contributed to the programme of panels, discussions, films and theatre. This September we are taking the theatre performance (covered in the Guardian Owen Jones, Rachel Holmes here and the Mirror. In 2018 we took In Clem’s Own Words to The World Transformed/Labour Conference with Paul Mason and Owen Jones
ADVOCACY AND CAMPAIGNS
Five Percent Campaign: Based on our first publication, this 120 page research report in 2013 made the case that runaway military spending is an international development campaign issue in same way as debt, trade, tax and needs a similar roadmap going forward. This led to research more reports across a range of issues, including the impact of the global military on climate change, security and international development.
This work is now part of TPNS’s wider project ‘Transform Defence for Sustainable Human Safety.’
Notably absent in present day Green New Deal thinking is an awareness about the role of the world’s militaries and their significant (and profoundly under-reported) contribution to climate change. Green New Deal Plus (GND Plus) is a three-point plan that gives shape to an essential, additional dimension to all existing Green New Deal discussions and plans. High defence spending inhibits economic and social development while current defence policy and practice is climate incompatible with the spirit of Green New Deals.
This work is now part of TPNS’s wider project ‘Transform Defence for Sustainable Human Safety
MLK GLOBAL & FILM
MLK Global TPNS launched this in 2018 with partners in the USA and UK Faith groups, to mark the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King. It has two elements (i) Campaign concept: MLK’s ‘Triple Evils’ and an end to ‘Economic Exploitation, Racism and Militarism’ in our lifetime. Model would be Jubilee Debt Campaign. (ii) Film: TPNS has the Public Performance Licence to show an extraordinary film about the 15 years of MLK’s activism: KING A FILMED RECORD FROM MONTGOMERY TO MEMPHIS. TPNS is also in production with a new feature documentary film about the last year of Dr. King’s life – his political activism and his assassination.
RETHINK THE WAR ON DRUGS as a development Issue.
TPNS came to this issue through its development support of Australian film-maker Shane Ward and his film DRUG WAR. Together with Shane, TPNS was responsible for facilitating a round-table meeting between some of the UK’s leading drug policy reform experts and some key UK development agencies including Health Poverty Action which led to HPA taking up the issue and becoming a leading campaign voice. TPNS remains committed to its role in promoting HPA’s effort to galvanise the development sector to join the global movement for drug policy reform and to play its part in helping that movement build a broad-based and paradigm-shifting coalition for change, as it has previously done itself on issues like debt cancellation and trade reform
https://www.healthpovertyaction.org/news-events/legal-regulation-of-drugs-a-development-lens/
TRANSFORM DEFENCE FOR SUSTAINABLE HUMAN SAFETY
Transform Defence works to put sustainable human safety at the heart of 21st century foreign, defence, security and international development policy-making. We must question the limits of 20th century national self-interest if we are to address the greatest threat to our collective survival – runaway climate change. Transform Defence for Sustainable Human Safety describes the paradigm shift we will need to meet this monumental challenge.
TPNS FUNDERS
Our films, events and campaigns have secured unrestricted and restricted funding from a wide range of supporters, major donors and regular givers. https://tippingpointnorthsouth.org/funders/
Transform defence for sustainable human safety 