Press Release

AGAINST ALL ODDS – ANNAN’S STORY
ANNIE GIBBS VISITS RAMALLAH, PALESTINE

On Friday 16th November, I fly to Tel Aviv in preparation for a week’s filming with the young people in Ramallah, Palestine.

My name is Annie Gibbs and I work as a Producer/Director for the Ragdoll Foundation. The Ragdoll Foundation was set up by Anne Wood Founder and Creative Director of Ragdoll Ltd and is dedicated to developing the power of imaginative responses in children through the arts.

A year ago I carried out a 5 day workshop with a young group of teenagers in Ramallah, Palestine. This workshop was to encourage the art of storytelling and programme making aimed at young children specifically. When I returned to England I had a file of 6 stories in their draft stages. All completely different, all staying away from political issues, all aimed at children around the age of 8 years old and all showing moments of positiveness and happiness. Quite a remarkable feat when one realizes that these storytellers had completely different and sometimes quite horrific personal stories about their life and lifestyle in Ramallah. Palestine.

The young people are members of PYALARA which stands for Palestinian Youth Association for Leadership and Rights Activation. It is a communication and media-oriented Palestinian NGO established for Palestinian youth. The main emphasis of the work of PYALARA is on ‘activation’. One of their main objectives is to prevent young Palestinians from becoming thoroughly frustrated as a result of the harsh conditions under which they are forced to live and encourage them to express themselves through writing, talking, and media.

Having received funding from Feed the Minds, a London based charity which invests in peace-building, reconciliation and conflict resolution projects in some of the world’s most violent regions, we chose one of the stories and developed it into a 10 minute television programme with the young people working with me across the internet. It is this story – “Ahmed’s Film” that we intend to film in the middle of November.

The story itself is a story about an 8 year old Palestinian boy who spends a lot of his time trying to keep clean so that his mother does not have to spend so much time washing and cleaning. But…however hard he tries, he never succeeds due to circumstances he encounters on his way to and from school.

The image of young Palestinians with which western television viewers are most familiar is that of angry protesters, burning either effigies or flags of western states. They are perceived by the western public as kidnappers, terrorists and suicide bombers, who have neither perspectives, jobs or hope.

Our young film makers have all met violence in one form or another. They have all lost someone close to them or know somebody who has. Violence does something to people’s behaviour and to their minds. In Palestine you understand why violence breeds violence.

The youngsters, however, wish only to make a film story for children. The building of a production team, the filming and ultimately the completion of a film will allow me to share their innovation and learn about what makes a young Palestinian…their worries and problems, but most importantly I suspect what will come across strongest is that of film makers everywhere, that despite everything the desire will be to make a good and entertaining film despite all odds.

5th November 2007

For additional information and all media enquiries, please contact:
Mary W. Hagger, Ragdoll Press Office on 01789 404100 or maryh@ragdoll.co.uk

Notes to Editors:

Annie Gibbs began her association with Ragdoll Productions in 1991, producing the Tots TV series in 1993 and from 1996, became the phenomenally successful Teletubbies Insert Producer liaising with 13 Insert Directors from around the world. Annie also worked on the UK episodes of Ragdoll’s international series, Open A Door and with the help of 238 children, managed to deliver 72 presents to the Storyworld people in Boohbah in 2003. When Ragdoll formed a close liaison with the Save the Children charity, Anne produced a pilot film in Nepal (Ranjita’s Film), which lead to her co-producing the award-winning series, What Makes Me Happy. Annie continues to work on the origination and development of new programmes.

The Ragdoll Foundation set up by Anne Wood is dedicated to developing the power of imaginative responses in children through the arts. It owns 15% of Ragdoll and springs from the same philosophical roots. The Foundation is governed by a Board of Trustees, chaired by Katherine Wood and administered by one Ragdoll member of staff, with some additional professional support from Ragdoll the company. It is funded entirely by Ragdoll Ltd.

Ragdoll, a privately owned family company, was founded by acclaimed children’s television programme maker, Anne Wood, in 1984 and has produced more than 1,400 programmes aimed at the youngest viewers. Ragdoll produced series for children can be seen in more than 120 countries and territories around the world, and in the UK are screened by the BBC, ITV and Five. Ragdoll and its children’s programming including the phenomenally successful Teletubbies, celebrating 10 years on television in 2007, the super-brave superhero Brum, those mischievous ragdolls Rosie and Jim, the adventures of Tots TV, the imaginative and magical Boohbah, BadJelly the Witch and Open a Door have all achieved international recognition. Blips, premiered in the UK on CiTV from 2005. Currently Ragdoll is in production with two new commissions for BBC Television - In the Night Garden, which launched on CBeebies and BBC2 in March 2007 and Tronji to air on CBBC, Spring 2008. In September 2006, Ragdoll and BBC Worldwide announced a new joint venture, Ragdoll Worldwide, to manage and exploit the Ragdoll catalogue, which includes Teletubbies, In the Night Garden, Brum and Boohbah. Ragdoll retains all UK broadcast rights and Ragdoll USA Inc, part of the new joint venture, will continue to manage the Ragdoll portfolio in North America.

For more information on Ragdoll Limited, visit website www.ragdoll.co.uk.

Mary W. Hagger
PR & Promotions Manager
Ragdoll Productions Ltd
Tel: 01789 404100 or 404107 (direct)