(Strong Remainer Miriam Margolyes filmed at her home at St Margaret's Bay, Dover which is the house nearest France in Britain).
Overview -
POSTCARDS FROM THE 48% is a documentary feature film.
Films do help change minds.
This is what we think the film will achieve -
- A tool to help Stop Brexit.
- To show the EU that we are not all hardliners and some of us value our association.
- If Brexit does happen, then one day we will want to rejoin. This film I hope will help that cause.
We need further funding. Will you help please ?
Introduction
We are Remainers. With the government ignoring us, most media outlets presenting a one-sided view of Brexit and prominent Brexiters painting opposition as “unpatriotic”, our side is battling to have our voice heard.
POSTCARDS FROM THE 48% is a feature-length documentary made by the 48% about the 48%. It is a film about our story, feelings and opinions, made from our perspective.
Article 50 has been triggered, but there is still a long way to go. We can and will fight back to keep our country united, to preserve peace and to guarantee the broadest possible set of opportunities for our children.
The recent debacle over self-employment National Insurance contributions shows Theresa May can change her mind and back down. The lady IS for turning - if the case is compelling, and it is.
We are making this film to show other EU Member States over 16 million of us Brits truly value our association with them and greatly appreciate the contribution their citizens have made not just to our economy but also to our culture over many decades.
The film will cover so many important elements that will affect the UK when no longer part of the EU. Important elements that neither the Remain or the Leave electioneering covered in a rather inept campaign. Many changes that will occur, and that we will feature in the film, will come as a surprise even to the most committed of Remainers not to mention to those who voted Leave.
POSTCARDS FROM THE 48% will show the EU 27 we are prepared to fight to the bitter end to remain in the EU, which - warts and all - we are proud to be a part of. It will also serve as a testimony to future generations that we did all we could.
Should Brexit happen then it will be a calling card for getting back in, to show the other EU 27 that so many of us are on their side.
(AC Grayling filmed in his office in Bedford Square, London)
THE STAKES: THE BATTLE FOR FREE SPEECH & DEMOCRACY
The MP Bill Cash has been campaigning against the EU since 1975. Was he ridiculed for what he believed in? No.
Friends, family and foes who voted Leave call us "Remoaners" and worse – all in a bid to silence us.
Had the campaign, on both sides, been based upon truth, and had the franchise not been gerrymandered, we could accept the outcome. But has there ever been such a false prospectus as the EU Referendum campaign?
In normal life, there is recourse if you have been misled through deliberate misrepresentation, and the product or service does not do what the salesperson promised it would. Why should there be any less integrity in politics?
POSTCARDS FROM THE 48% is the only way we know to put our case; to record the efforts of so many men and women who will not give up without a very good fight.
( Oliver Marshall with his mother Liselotte who fled Nazi Germany in 1938. Since the vote in June last year, Oliver has claimed a German passport.)
WHY AM I THE RIGHT FILMMAKER FOR THE JOB?
Typically filmmakers say whatever project they are working on now is their favourite. Hand on heart, I can say, this is the most important film I will ever make.
I am a passionate Remainer. I also happen to be an accomplished and experienced filmmaker and distributor, as my IMDb page attests. This is what I know how to do best and this is the best contribution I can make to our cause.
I will make YOU the stars of POSTCARDS FROM THE 48%.
Yes, there will be Remain “celebrities” – Professor A.C. Grayling, Miriam Margolyes, Baroness Wheatcroft, Matt Kelly, Sir Andrew Cook, Raymond McCord – but mostly I will feature so-called ‘ordinary’ people from all walks of life, ages, religions, income brackets and ethnic backgrounds.
Each and every one of you resisting Brexit in the face of pressure to give up is a hero.
(17 year old Hugo and 81 year old Mary)
WHAT DIFFERENCE CAN A FILM MAKE?
People often ask why artists don’t leave politics to the politicians. To paraphrase Simon McBurney, it is the artist’s job to talk of the human condition with humanity and humility, and if that sometimes encompasses politics it is because our country is wounded and our politicians aren’t helping.
A film can change the world – Yes! It really can. With the rise of fake news, documentaries are filling a vacant space and supplying much needed information that not only keeps us informed, but also provides a focal point for activism.
This summer I will release Irish film SANCTUARY. This dramatic comedy highlights the Irish law that makes it a criminal offense for adults with intellectual disabilities to have sex before marriage.
The film, and theatre play before it, encouraged the people of Ireland to demand an amendment to the law earlier this year. Now, if those concerned are aware of what they are agreeing to, it is no longer illegal. It’s a start. The fight goes on for a broader reform.
With my production, THE FIRST FILM it took me 33 years to bring the story to the screen. This was because my premise that the worlds very first film was shot not in France or America but Leeds in Yorkshire was thought to be joke. In all that time, everyone I spoke to just did not believe me. Even people who have devoted their lives to film – actors, writers, filmmakers, critics, journalists, historians, etc. all said I was wrong. (The BBC turned it down three times).
In the two years since the film played in cinemas around the world, online and on TV including Film Four here in the UK, so many people who thought my premise wrong, have since told me that I have changed their minds. Almost all the Wikipedia entries that disagreed with me, have now been altered and tell the truth.
CATHY COME HOME made in the 1960’s had a huge impact and the formation of Shelter came out of its screening. There are so many other films that have helped change the status quo.
My hope is that POSTCARDS FROM THE 48% will have a similar impact. As well as standing as a testament of our commitment to the EU, both for the EU 27 and future generations, perhaps it will convince a few Brexiters, who watch it out of curiosity, to change their minds.
( We had four cameramen on the march on the 25th March 2017. More than the BBC....more than anyone else for that matter.
ISN’T IT TOO LATE?
NO! Article 50 can be revoked. Already key Leave claims (e.g. “loss of sovereignty”) have been exposed as disingenuous, campaign promises have been abandoned (£350m/week to the NHS) and the focus of discussion is now damage limitation.
The truth is the Government had not thought through the implications. These are now emerging:
A disunited country with Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales and even the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands at different stages of belligerence, seeking independence from the UK. All are unhappy with the Westminster government’s aloofness.
Having been told in the 2014 Scottish Independence Referendum that a vote to remain part of the UK was the ONLY way to safeguard membership in the EU, Scotland is particularly aggrieved. Also, Westminster refused the double lock Scotland requested on the EU Referendum on the grounds it was only advisory and so was not needed (see Hansard, 16 June 2015, Vol. 597, Column 231).
If a hard border is re-established with Ireland it will spell an end to the Good Friday Peace Agreement and potentially a return to sectarian violence in Northern Ireland.
Wales, which benefited from £4 billion investment by the EU, voted Leave, but appears to be changing its mind. Even UKIP's former Economics spokesperson, Mark Reckless, now says it is vital to stay in the Single Market.
Gibraltar voted 96% Remain. With a population of 30,000 and up to 20,000 workers crossing the border with Spain each day, Brexit threatens their very way of life. Of course the sovereignty issue has arisen, prompting one former Tory Leader to rashly suggest going to war with Spain, a close European ally and fellow member of NATO.
To add to these regional complexities there are industrial issues. Many of our “jewel-in-the-crown” sectors are under threat, from high finance, to scientific research, to higher education.
Our airlines could be grounded if we fall out of the EU’s Open Skies Agreement.
Our customs officials say that imports and exports could grind to a halt.
Businesses are talking about relocating. Some inward foreign investment has been put on hold – the US Chamber of Commerce estimated $65 billion from USA alone.
Commonwealth countries like Australia are talking about channelling their EU-conduit trade through Ireland, instead of through the UK.
Nobody seems to have tackled the thorny subject of EU countries choosing to substitute British imports with products and services from friendly EU 27 partners. They don’t have to do business with us!
Peter French and Paul Cartwright representing the people of Gibraltar at the Surpeme Court in London on 24th Janaury 2017)
WHAT WILL YOU BE FINANCING?
We want to avoid this documentary being too London-centric. For this reason, we intend to travel to Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and Gibraltar, as well as the length and breadth of England, to capture the voices of the 48% everywhere.
Ideally, we would also like to travel to Greenland, the one country that has previously left the EU. However, UK territories are our top priority.
Then, of course, there are the usual filmmaking expenses, which include cameras and other equipment; filming permits; music clearances; archive footage; post-production; graphics; legal & accountancy fees and marketing & promotion costs.
(Planning the Unite for Europe national march to Parliament STOP BREXIT which will take place on 25th March 2017 )
HOW MUCH DO WE NEED?
I am looking to raise a minimum of £30,000 to produce this film. A stretch goal of £165,000 would guarantee a great documentary.
These may sound like large sums of money. By way of comparison, if I were making this for a UK broadcaster, we would work with a budget of around £450,000. On a recent feature doc I was involved in, the budget was well over £1 million (my fee was £10,000, so it wasn't a gravy train).
The more archive footage needed, the greater the licence fees, plus there are numerous unavoidable technical, post-production and travel costs.
None of those who feature in the film will be paid, but I would like to raise enough to pay something to the estimated 50-odd people who will work on the film. Up until now, everybody has donated their time. They do it because, like me, they voted Remain and want our voices heard in this debate. However, I cannot ask them to continue to work for nothing. Some of them will be full-time for many months.
There have been a lot of demands on Remainers’ pockets with various (successful) crowdfunding campaigns, but I call upon you one more time to help fund this project, so that we may have a powerful tool in our kit to change hearts and minds.
You can also help by leveraging your social media footprint to spread the message of this campaign. We have a Facebook page and a Twitter account (@postcards_48) that make sharing easy.
(Solicitor Ciaran O'Hare and his client Raymond McCord a campaigner for the rights of victims of the Troubles who launched the first legal challenge in Northern Ireland against the UK leaving the European Union, outside the Supreme Court in London)
WILL THE FILM BE SEEN?
I have over the last thirty years released over 100 films in the cinema, on video & DVD, online and TV.
In the 129 years since Louis Le Prince made the world’s first film in Leeds no other UK distribution company has demonstrated such a strong 100% commitment to British films, focusing on material that other UK distribution companies turn down as “uncommercial” or “difficult”, but which deserves an audience.
I will use my distribution expertise to ensure POSTCARDS FROM THE 48% is released in the cinema, online and on DVD in the UK. Entering festivals and leveraging my associations will ensure distribution in as many EU 27 countries as possible.
To secure a global audience, I will offer the film to broadcasters/VOD channels currently playing my productions: Netflix, SKY, FilmFour, iTunes, Amazon, Vimeo etc all of whom I have worked with in the past.
This film will be seen. Our voices will be heard.
( Photo: Some of the 48% outside the Supreme Court).