Care home staff turn filmmakers with Covid tales

SAM VOLPE on a film that shows life at the sharp end of the Covid crisis

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A FILM produced at Newcastle University by care home staff shows the ups and downs of life during the tail-end of the Covid-19 pandemic.

A team at the university worked with staff at a Seaburn care home by giving them high-definition video cameras and the training needed to use them and a 37-minute film called Care has now premiered.

Director Alastair Cole, a senior lecturer at Newcastle University, explained that the film was entirely shot by the care staff at the home themselves.

The filmmakers are not naming the home to protect the privacy of residents and as its ownership has changed hands since filming.

The idea behind the film is to provoke conversations about the future of the care sector and the value which society places upon it.

Alastair said: "It stems from Newcastle University and it was a project that emerged towards the tail-end of the Covid pandemic.

"At the time, there were a lot of stories about care but they were often predominantly negative and missing the perspective of staff and those living in care homes.

"The idea was we wanted to see what was going on in the homes from their perspective.

"To that end, we talked with the staff about filming observationally at the very start."