On 27 November, the Handmade Parade team released WE ARE HERE, a collaborative film based on a specially commissioned short story by award-winning writer Liz Flanagan.
WE ARE HERE is the culmination of a nationwide project involving people from up and down the country in the creation and telling of a new fable for the strange times we live in. Participants worked with Handmade Parade to tell the story, learn new skills and then weave it all together into a short film.
The WE ARE HERE project came about when it was clear that SARS-CoV2 would prevent the Handmade Parade from producing any outdoor events this year including Todmorden’s Lamplighter parade. The Town Council had already allocated funding for Lamplighter 2020 but Councillors were pleased to vary that funding to support ‘Windows On the World’, a part of the wider WE ARE HERE project with direct benefit for Todmorden.
‘Windows on the World’ saw Todmorden’s young people, business owners and residents create amazing, illuminated window displays telling a specific part of the WE ARE HERE story. These artworks were installed in the windows of shops and homes around Todmorden where they created avisual trail for the people of Todmorden to visit and enjoy over October half-term in place of Lamplighter. In addition, the windows were photographed and used to amazing effect within the film which is available to view now on You Tube