By Matthew Hellett

Today at our Oska Bright Committee Meeting we talked about getting some more people to join us. We also judged some really good films. Especially the one called “Hope Springs Episode 4” by Shoot Your Mouth Off. It was funny and very well acted and it was quite dramatic! I finished watching it with a tear in my eye!

Another good film was the one that Jumpcuts did – “Bottled Up” – another extremely well acted film – I enjoyed it very much.

We also wrote a letter about the BBC Panorama scandal that has been headlining in our news this week. Its disgusting that people with a learning disability have been treated this way – we like to be treated like ordinary citizens – not tortured by those who are meant to be there to give us a hand!!! We will send it to the Minister for Health, our MPs, Arts Council, Brighton and Hove Council and the BBC Director General and the Diversity Department. The balance of the reporting was very bad – it made us seem like we were unable to do anything for ourselves, which is ridiculous! For more information about this scandal see here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/jun/03/the-silent-majority-care-scandal
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/may/31/abuse-at-leading-care-home

We will let you know what our Government says about our letter!

Bye for now – see you next week.


The Right Honourable Andrew Lansley MP
House of Commons
Westminster
London
SW1 A 0AA

3rd June 2011

Dear Mr Lansley

We are writing to you about the scandal of abuse in Winterbourne View Hospital, Bristol, for people with learning disabilities where staff were torturing the people who lived there. We saw the BBC Panorama programme and the headlines in the BBC and it made us feel very angry and sad: it makes us wonder how many more people with a learning disability are living like that.

We are the committee of the award winning international Oska Bright short film festival. We show films made by people with learning disabilities. These are powerful films which give positive messages by telling people stories which aim to change what the general public think about learning disabled people and our lives.

We show a different side to learning disability. It is a very positive festival and the only one of its kind in the world. We know, from asking people who come to the festival, that the films have the power to change lives for the better. We show how people with learning disabilities have the ability to live a more independent life and how we, as a community, have moved on from the days of large institutions and the types of abuse that happen in those places.

We offer you our library of films and our abilities as film makers, and ask you to work with us to show positive images from our community that challenge the types of discrimination that comes from out dated models of care.

People with learning disabilities are equal citizens. We must not be treated this way. We want to show other people that we speak out, live independent lives, get married etc just like everyone else.

We look forward to helping you give positive messages that balances the reporting that we have seen this week.

Yours sincerely
The Oska Bright Steering Committee