{"id":8728,"date":"2020-02-25T11:29:21","date_gmt":"2020-02-25T11:29:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.ac.uk\/c3riimpact\/?p=8728"},"modified":"2020-06-23T21:23:31","modified_gmt":"2020-06-23T20:23:31","slug":"mff-heath-atkinson-three-chords","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.ac.uk\/c3riimpact\/mff-heath-atkinson-three-chords\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Three Chords and the Truth’ screens at the Manchester Film Festival"},"content":{"rendered":"

Three Chords and the Truth<\/em> has been selected for screening at the Manchester Film Festival<\/a> alongside documentary shorts at the ODEON Great Northern on Thursday 12 March 2020.<\/p>\n

Three Chords and the Truth<\/em><\/strong>
\nManchester Film Festival<\/a>, ODEON Manchester Great Northern<\/strong>
\nThursday 12 March 2020, 6PM<\/strong>
\nSee the full schedule of films here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The short film\u00a0directed by\u00a0Virginia Heath<\/a>, Professor of Film, and written by\u00a0Paul Atkinson<\/a>, Professor of Design and Design History, portrays the passionate makers and players of cigar box guitars. Many of these craftsmen and musicians are from post-industrial British towns, and have created a self-identity through making these unique three-stringed guitars. Born from the blues, their simple, low cost, \u2018no rules\u2019 approach means anyone can try their hand.<\/p>\n

These are the fervent advocates of the \u2018cigar box guitar revolution\u2019 who express their love of designing and constructing hand-made instruments, recycled from almost anything. The democratic, pro-recycling, local-production ethos of the movement inspires new recruits, while the emotional connection they feel for their instruments creates a unique and evocative sound that totally transports musicians and audiences alike.<\/p>\n

Although the cigar box guitar has a long history in the USA, where it formed part of the culture of traditional blues music, it has only recently become popular with musicians in the UK. This film reveals how just three chords, played on their unique, DIY, instruments, hand-made from recycled materials, connect them to their truth.<\/p>\n

The starting point for this collaboration was a research article,\u00a0Hairy Guys in Sheds<\/em>, written by Paul Atkinson, which explored the phenomenon of the cigar box guitar and the DIY revolution that has accompanied its uptake in the UK. Emerging as a side project from research into a book on the design history of electric guitars (to be published by Reaktion Books next year), the article used a series of in-depth, semi-structured interviews to piece together the history and current state of the cigar box guitar movement. The article describes the design and making processes used, and explores the makers\u2019 motivations for being involved. It is a \u00a0particular form of DIY which entails many people (mainly hairy guys) working in isolation in sheds across the country to create their own instruments out of recycled scrap and upcycled components. The instruments and the resulting maker\u2019s music are then shared among virtual communities of practice through extensive use of social media, and among real communities of players and audiences through public performance at concerts and festivals. This raises questions about their self-identity and their perceptions of themselves as being either amateur or professional as makers and players.<\/p>\n

As a woman film director, in\u00a0Three Chords and the Truth<\/em>, Virginia Heath turns her female gaze on this male world of \u2018hairy guys in sheds\u2019, the cigar box guitar makers and players who create a sense of self-identity though making unique instruments from recycled materials. The contemporary UK scene, inspired by American precedents, is largely embedded in northern post-industrial towns. After factory and mine closures, makers like the ex-miner from Barnsley, have finally been able to pursue the creative path they always longed for. As a filmmaker, Heath is intrigued by the way in which the guitar makers see their DIY movement as part of a wider resistance against the way in which our culture has become so mass produced and standardised. There\u2019s an interesting dichotomy between the simplicity and authenticity of hand-made instruments and the use of the internet to exchange ideas and grow the global movement.<\/p>\n

About Manchester Film Festival<\/strong><\/p>\n

Manchester Film Festival has been championing film culture since 2015, when the inaugural festival was held. Since then the festival has gone from strength to strength, growing in size and stature. Manchester Film Festival is a truly independent film festival, committed to sharing great stories from both new and established international and domestic filmmakers from the world of independent cinema.<\/p>\n

\n

Virginia Heath<\/a>\u00a0is Professor of Film in the Art and Design Research Centre at Sheffield Hallam University. She is a multi-award winning writer\/director with New Zealand and UK nationality. She directs documentary and drama films including the acclaimed, BAFTA nominated,\u00a0From Scotland With Love<\/em>\u00a0and Berlinale award winning\u00a0Relativity<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Paul Atkinson<\/a>\u00a0is Professor of Design and Design History in the Art and Design Research Centre at Sheffield Hallam University. He is the author of various books and articles that have explored the design history of the computer, the design history of the electric guitar, the relationship between amateur and professional design practice and the history of the DIY and Maker Movements.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Three Chords and the Truth has been selected for screening at the Manchester Film Festival alongside documentary shorts at the ODEON Great Northern on Thursday 12 March 2020. Three Chords and the Truth Manchester Film Festival, ODEON Manchester Great Northern Thursday 12 March 2020, 6PM See the full schedule of films here. The short film\u00a0directed by\u00a0Virginia Heath, Professor of Film, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8633,"featured_media":8732,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[139],"tags":[5,1399,124,481,1472,115,164,327,1080,259],"class_list":["post-8728","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-art-and-design-research-centre","tag-cigar-box-blues","tag-film-research","tag-manchester","tag-manchester-international-film-festival","tag-media-arts-research","tag-paul-atkinson","tag-screening","tag-three-chords-and-the-truth","tag-virginia-heath"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.shu.ac.uk\/c3riimpact\/files\/2020\/02\/2020-03-HEATH-ATKINSON-Three-Chords-at-Manchester-Film-Festival.jpg?fit=890%2C290&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8oFHo-2gM","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":7857,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.ac.uk\/c3riimpact\/three-chords-heath-atkinson-new-mexico\/","url_meta":{"origin":8728,"position":0},"title":"The Albuquerque Film & Music Festival screening Professor Virginia Heath and Professor Paul Atkinson’s ‘Three Chords and the Truth’","author":"Ian Braddick","date":"23\/09\/2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Three Chords and the Truth\u00a0screens\u00a0at\u00a0the Albuquerque Film & Music Festival (AFMX) in New Mexico this week.\u00a0AFMX is entering its seventh year and brings together award-winning and up-and-coming filmmakers and musicians from around the world to showcase and celebrate film and music, and provide a platform for education, collaboration, discovery and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.ac.uk\/c3riimpact\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Still from Three Chords and the Truth by Paul Atkinson and Virginia Heath and AMFX logo","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.shu.ac.uk\/c3riimpact\/files\/2019\/09\/2019-09-HEATH-ATKINSON-Three-Chords-at-AFMX.jpg?fit=890%2C290&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.shu.ac.uk\/c3riimpact\/files\/2019\/09\/2019-09-HEATH-ATKINSON-Three-Chords-at-AFMX.jpg?fit=890%2C290&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.shu.ac.uk\/c3riimpact\/files\/2019\/09\/2019-09-HEATH-ATKINSON-Three-Chords-at-AFMX.jpg?fit=890%2C290&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.shu.ac.uk\/c3riimpact\/files\/2019\/09\/2019-09-HEATH-ATKINSON-Three-Chords-at-AFMX.jpg?fit=890%2C290&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7837,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.ac.uk\/c3riimpact\/three-chords-heath-atkinson-woodstock\/","url_meta":{"origin":8728,"position":1},"title":"‘Three Chords and the Truth’ – Professors Virginia Heath and Paul Atkinson’s short film screening at Woodstock Film Festival this weekend","author":"Ian Braddick","date":"30\/09\/2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Three Chords and the Truth\u00a0will screen at Woodstock Film Festival\u00a0in upstate New York this weekend, in competition for Best Short Documentary. 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Laurels from\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.ac.uk\/c3riimpact\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"2020-10 HEATH ATKINSON Nashville Film Festival Three Chords and the Truth Still","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.shu.ac.uk\/c3riimpact\/files\/2020\/09\/2020-10-HEATH-ATKINSON-Nashville-Film-Festival-Three-Chords-and-the-Truth-Still.jpg?fit=890%2C290&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.shu.ac.uk\/c3riimpact\/files\/2020\/09\/2020-10-HEATH-ATKINSON-Nashville-Film-Festival-Three-Chords-and-the-Truth-Still.jpg?fit=890%2C290&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.shu.ac.uk\/c3riimpact\/files\/2020\/09\/2020-10-HEATH-ATKINSON-Nashville-Film-Festival-Three-Chords-and-the-Truth-Still.jpg?fit=890%2C290&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.shu.ac.uk\/c3riimpact\/files\/2020\/09\/2020-10-HEATH-ATKINSON-Nashville-Film-Festival-Three-Chords-and-the-Truth-Still.jpg?fit=890%2C290&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":10572,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.ac.uk\/c3riimpact\/three-chords-and-the-truth-part-of-boxstock-2021\/","url_meta":{"origin":8728,"position":3},"title":"\u2018Three Chords and the Truth\u2019, directed by Prof Virginia Heath and written by Prof Paul Atkinson, is screening at the Lighthouse Cinema, Wolverhampton on 16th October 2021","author":"lh1112","date":"15\/10\/2021","format":false,"excerpt":"\u2018Three Chords and the Truth\u2019 a 20 mins cinema film, directed by Prof Virginia Heath and written by Prof Paul Atkinson (both of ADMRC), is screening at the Lighthouse Cinema, Wolverhampton, as part of BOXSTOCK 2021, the Cigar Box Guitar Festival, on 16th October 2021. 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