New film to draw attention to PPE in care homes
A group of actors have created a new film using Samuel Coleridge’s famous poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner to draw attention to the lack of PPE in UK care homes.
The film, titled The Rime of the Care Home Manager, is a short satirical film made by film-maker Cassius Rayner who was inspired to draw attention to the plight of older people during the Covid-19 outbreak.
The film, largely shot in Telegraph Hill, near Brockley, uses real life footage of care homes, food banks and care home workers.
Actress Beth Hayward plays an exasperated care home manager, who publicly berates the health minister for failing to deliver promised PPE.
The film-makers say they hope people will be inspired by the film to spare a thought for under resourced care homes and donate to local charity for older people called Just Older Youth (JOY).
Alongside other community groups, JOY, based in New Cross, will be supporting vulnerable and isolated people before, during and after Covid.
Actress Joanna Lumley said: “This short brilliant film should be required viewing for those in charge of our country”.
“The Rime of the Care Home Manager goes straight to the painful heart of the matter: couched in almost-familiar verses is the anguish and anger about the treatment of elderly lonely people.
“From this awful time of pestilence good things will emerge: and I hope the very first will be a change of attitude to our beloved old and anxious citizens, and the people who try to make their lives better.
“The scandal of neglect by successive Governments can be reversed. ”
Owen Teale, who stars as Alliser Thorne in Game of Thrones, said: “It’s extraordinary that local actors have worked with a local film-maker to pull off a brilliant, hard-hitting expose of the scandal facing our care homes.
“Like the original great poem, it is a reminder to all of us of how powerful the arts can be. We need them now more than ever.”
The film’s co-writer, Ian Wilson, said: “The collective dismay at the government’s handling of PPE for care homes has been astounding.
“This has been translated through the art of film, with so many talented local people volunteering their time to make this happen.”
You can now watch the film on Youtube at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r41MJ7Voa1E
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