Slavery Exists Today

Originally published in editorial column of The Hullfire #March2017

Sold is a film about modern day slavery and sex trafficking. It was recently screened in Hull as part of the nationwide Taught, Not Trafficked tour which is being run by Childreach International in an attempt to raise awareness about the issue. It follows the story of a young girl, Lakshmi, trafficked from her home in Nepal to a Kolkata brothel where she is forced to work in the sex trade.

It is a harrowing and affecting film which whilst being a fictional account, highlights a very real problem of similar stories that occur all over the world. 12,000-20,000 girls are trafficked from Nepal alone, every single year and this has increased by 300% since the earthquakes in 2015. But it’s also right under our noses in our own towns and cities. With an estimated 11,000 – 13,000 slaves still working in the UK it is highly likely that even in Hull, the birthplace of William Wilberforce, slavery still exists today.

Robert Ziegler Interview // Music of John Williams concert with RPO

Hull City Hall recently hosted the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra for a night celebrating the film music of composer John Williams in the latest of a string of concerts in collaboration with the world renowned orchestra. The sold out concert which is one of the key events of the first season of the City of Culture year was full of highly recognisable tunes from beginning to end. Conducting such classics as the themes from Star Wars, E.T., Jurassic Park and more, was US born composer Robert Ziegler one of the most prolific and versatile conductors working today. Robert has conducted many of the major orchestra’s in the world and worked on films and contemporary music as well as with the Royal Philharmonic on numerous occasions including for this John Williams tour. I spoke to him as he prepared for the show on Thursday 2^nd February.

Film Review: Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith

Originally posted on The Indiependent.

The Star Wars prequels are often called out for their inferior quality to the Original three films and certainly for the first two films this is fairly understandable, however this viewpoint is often held most strongly by an older generation who were let down by the later output from their beloved saga. As a younger viewer Revenge of the Sith did not hold any disappointment as the sci-fi epic it was. Revisiting it now, its flaws are unfortunately more obvious, but this is still a great deal of fun, backed by the stirring and recognisable John Williams score, with some of the best aspects of Star Wars present.