NICHE CULTURE
Based on a true story...
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Sometimes fact truly is stranger than fiction; I rewatched my favourite film of 2018, Spike Lee’s magnificent BlackKklansman at the weekend (it’s currently available on Sky Cinema). This incredible dramatisation of an extraordinary true story follows the journey of Colorado Springs’ first black law enforcement officer Ron Stallworth, who joined the department in 1972 and infiltrated the Ku Klux Klan – duping KKK Grand Wizard David Duke as part of this investigation. Fast forward to 1979, Stallworth notices an ad in the local paper seeking members to start a new chapter of the Ku Klux Klan in Colorado Springs. He calls the phone number, posing as a racist white man who “hates blacks, Jews, Mexicans and Asians.”
TRACEY MILLER
Director at The Miller Partnership The film is an astonishing piece of real-life drama, for which Spike Lee won the 2019 Oscar for ‘Best Adapted Screenplay’ and it got me pondering the entertainment we consume ‘based on a true story’. Whilst historical dramas are often posing as factual, and some biopics take extreme liberties with the truth for a more palatable dramatic narrative, our love of ‘real’ life stories appears unquenchable. Netflix has been a long-time purveyor of true crime stories, bringing us the documentary series: Making A Murderer, Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes and, most recently, The Disappearance of Madeleine McCann. We know that real life dramas such as Schindler’s List and Apollo 13 shine
a light on humanity’s best and worst; and comedies which have been ‘based on a true story’ can lift the heart; to an oeuvre which includes The Full Monty, Calendar Girls, Kinky Boots and Billy Elliot, I’m adding Fighting With My Family as well. This Norfolk-based tale about a family of wrestlers was made into a Channel 4 documentary, from which Stephen Merchant wrote and directed this film starring Lady Macbeth newcomer, Florence Pugh, and Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson as star and producer. It is an often-told tale of the misfit overcoming the odds, but it’s charming, funny and upliftingly entertaining.
traceyannmiller@hotmail.com
NICHE CARE
Melton care home café opens
for a trip down memory lane A Melton Mowbray care home is celebrating the opening of a Memory Café for its residents
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Staff at The Amwell, a private care home offering residential, nursing, dementia and respite care, have turned their bistro into a delightful space which is full of memories of yesteryear. The idea came about after resident Margaret Whiley, 79, donated her 84-set Royal Doulton cup and saucer set as her husband, Walter, also 79, is moving in with their daughter, Anita, who lives in Melton. The couple celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary together last year. Mrs Whiley had been a keen collector of bone china and, Walter said, will be delighted to use it again at the care home where she has spent the last year. Their budgie, Toby, also has a new home and is now living at the care home. “Margaret will feel even more at home now that she has her tea set and Toby,” said Walter. “She always loved collecting stuff for the kitchen and, as I’m moving in with my daughter, I’ve been clearing out the house. Margaret suggested I donate the tea set and many other items to The Amwell so they can be used and enjoyed by other residents at the home.” The Memory Café is complete with memorabilia from wartime and vintage editions of The Beano. It is the latest in a range of initiatives aimed at contributing to a sense of
wellbeing for the residents at the home in Asfordby Road. Manager Tracy Heyes said: “We’d like to thank Mr and Mrs Whiley for donating so many wonderful items to the home, it’s very kind indeed. As these items will remind Margaret of past times, we thought we would turn the whole bistro area into a Memory Café which the family could officially open. “We recognise that reminiscing about the past is extremely therapeutic and are always keen to deliver initiatives which get our residents talking and reminiscing together. Many of our residents love to share stories from their younger years and the Café is a way of enjoying a meal and a drink in a relaxed setting that can prompt those stories. “We are delighted to be able to create the Memory Café and fill it with items that might otherwise be hidden away. Our new feathered friend, Toby, also made quite a positive impression on our residents!”
01664 882 525 theamwellcare.com info@theamwellcare.com NICHE | 109