Rick Limentani has made some unusual choices. After graduating from Cambridge University, he left a successful career for a blue-chip consultancy in the city to become a struggling artist, studying film-making in Paris. Over the past ten years he has risen to prominance as a screenwriter, winning international awards, and has also directed short films shown in festivals around the world. Now, after completing a new short film in Spain last year, which is currently being sent around the world, he’s decided to turn his attention to the theatre with a new, and equally international play called ‘Freedom’.

Freedom divides the stage between two countries, with half the characters in the UK, and the other half living in parallel in Tajikistan, one of the poorest countries of the former Soviet Union. The story follows an opium farmer who finds a way to send his son to England, with the ulterior motive of bringing something back. In England, the young man quickly falls in love with the western way of life, and in particular with a beautiful girl.

“I love the idea that freedom isn’t a yes or no, it’s a sliding scale,” says Rick, “No one feels completely free because we all impinge on each others lives. We all have responsibilities to family, to work, and to each other that box in our lives. In this story, I wanted to play with that and create situations where each character has to choose between elements of their own freedom and that of the others.”

The choice to write and direct the story as a play rather than a film is explained by the producer and actress, Spanish starlet Rebeca Cobos, “The structure of the story meant that it was perfect for the stage. Just three actors, and action taking place in two locations at the same time, it’s going to create a really interesting experience, and seeing it performed live will really powerful.”

The pair have pulled together an international team for the play, with a lighting designer from France, composer and costume designer from Spain, and plenty of British talent in the production, acting and set design teams. The whole thing has investment from Spain and England, and will be touring the South East of England in November, with a premiere in Canterbury’s Gulbenkian Theatre on the 3rd of November.

“We chose the South East, basically, because that’s where I’m from. I know most of these towns and theatres we’re performing in,” says the writer/director, “It’s my first go at a theatre play, and I’m really excited about it, but doing it close to home gives a little comfort, and also guarantees that we’ll sell a few tickets. At the very least, my Mum and Dad are going to come and see it!”

Freedom will be performing in November in Canterbury, Norwich, Cromer and Folkestone. For more details, take a look at the website: www.freedomtheplay.co.uk

One of the newer members of the club, Aaron Douglas competed for the first time at regional level, having joined the club as a beginner last September.

Stephen Bottomley (third year undergraduate) put in an excellent performance in both aspects of the competition – kata (a pattern of moves designed to deal with several opponents) and kumite (freestyle sparring).

Stephen won two bronze medals in both disciplines in his category. This is a remarkable achievement, demonstrating not only Stephen’s ability in specialist areas of karate but also his development as an ‘all-rounder’ in this martial art.

Stephen began learning karate at Canterbury Christ Church University and hopes to grade for his first dan black belt in the near future. At the same event, one of the club’s previous members and an alumnus of Christ Church – Ben Richardson, who is now a third dan black belt, became the Southern Region kumite champion. Ben is currently a member of the National squad.

Canterbury Christ Church offers all of its members the opportunity to compete in both national and regional competitions. New members are always welcome and no experience is required. Contact liggysamson@googlemail.com

Student Union President, Steve Godwin, opened his address to the (initially present) 193 students by summarising the work of the Student Union over the previous year, focusing on charity work, the growth in media services, and financial activity. The total income of the Student Union was announced as £413,150, an increase of 3.13% on the previous year, and the total expenditure was £397,638, an increase of 6%, leaving a surplus of £15,512.

Following Mr Godwin was Vice President and Sabbatical Officer for Sports Steph White, who focused upon the increase in the number of Christ Church students participating in sports this year, and the renovation of the Stodmarsh sports fields. She closed by mentioning that Varsity is only five weeks away.

Vice President and Sabbatical Officer for Student Activities, Kal Sajad, spoke of the continued success of the re-launched UNIfied, the increased presence of CSR FM (the radio station run between Christ Church, University of Kent and the local community) on campus, and the growth of student societies since September.

Vice President and Sabbatical Officer for Student Welfare and Education Silvia Rasca concentrated on the success of the newly discounted ticket prices for student bus tickets, the assurance that students will have their assignments marked and returned before the next one is set, and the plans for a new Student Union building.

Guest speaker Usman Ali, Vice President for Higher Education for the National Union of Students, (NUS) focused heavily upon diversity in the student body, and the need to maintain such diversity in the face of economic difficulty and rising tuition fees, which he praised Christ Church for upholding thus far. He went on to criticise university league tables, arguing that they reflect the reputation rather than the actual achievement of universities.

Following Mr. Ali’s speech motions were proposed, which had to be approved with a majority of 50 votes in order to come into effect. The motions passed were for the introduction of Sports Colours awards (proposed by Steph White), for the improvement of the university’s room booking system (proposed by Steve Godwin), for student smartcards to be replaced for free (proposed by Steve Godwin), for the process of granting special membership to the Student Union to change (proposed by Silvia Rasca) and for the staggering of assignment deadlines (proposed by Jo Bartson -Umuliisa). The motions that did not pass were for the introduction of a duty officer at weekends, (proposed by Matthew Stone), for the staggering of information for freshers over the first 12 weeks of Michaelmas term (proposed by Steve Godwin) which failed due to a lack of a 50 vote majority.

The next item on the agenda was to unveil the plans for the new Student Union building. The Student building, due to move in 18 months to St George’s Place, was provisionally revealed with images of what the interior is predicted to look like, and is due to include offices for sabbatical officers, study spaces, a bar and a cafeteria. The student body elected to name the office space ‘The Office’, the cafeteria ‘The Coffee Shop’ and the bar ‘The Pub’.

The final item on the agenda was a vote upon the granting of special membership for the current sabbatical officers and members of the student body selected for their dedicated work for the Student Union. The motion was approved, seeing several more Christ Church students granted lifelong membership to the Student Union.

Plot: Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell) has been on the dark side of the Moon for nearly 3 years, overseeing a harvest of an energy source with just a robot (Kevin Spacey) for company. Within his final fortnight of work, Sam’s reality begins to fall apart revealing a strange and terrifying truth which cannot be forgotten.

Review: Sam Rockwell delivers an almost solo performance terrifically in a film that is more than simple science fiction. The wide use of models not only gives a sense of realism to the film, but also a tribute to the 70s and 80s of space cinema, from Space Odyssey to The Clangers, in almost a swan song of a forgotten genre, of a forgotten idea, that films are art, and about more than beautiful people, latest trends and shallow values. There are psychological levels that are hard to define any further than simple making contact, somewhere, deep in the subconscious, as well as some subtle political undertones. You can really relate to how unimportant the individual is to the major company, without the film ever directly implying for the most part of the film. Parker uses multiple elements that are not human to make these points, such as space itself to illustrate Sam’s isolation from home and perhaps the isolation a lot of people feel from the world around them.

Conclusion: One for the film boffs, but not for the science fiction boffs, there are no lasers and no Wookies. Clearly a defining piece of cinema from the 21st century, which will influence countless films to come. If you haven’t caught any of Duncan Jones’ material, this would be a good place to start.

It didn’t start like this however; a little over two years ago now I had just moved to Canterbury as a fresher, ready to begin a combined honours degree in Film, Radio and Television with Media & Cultural Studies at Canterbury Christ Church University. I guess my situation was much like anyone else’s; I knew I had a massive interest in media, but beyond that I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. This all began to change when, influenced by both my interest in media and also an overall love for music I decided to get involved in CSR. It wasn’t all plain sailing at first, being on the outside not quite knowing how to get involved or who to contact, for a while I made little progress. I stuck with it though and although it started slowly, I began to get progressively more involved.

The real breakthrough came when driven by my determination I decided to run for a position on the committee, to my surprise and delight I was successful, soon I’d begin as Head of Music for CSR and have plenty of opportunity to impact on the running of the station and also gain the opportunity to DJ. I was glad my determination had stayed with me; in effect it was this that led to gaining all the opportunities that came my way. This completely changed everything, I soon gained an enormous appreciation and a growing passion for CSR and radio in general which ultimately led to me becoming station manager.

Now in my final year of University, there’s a bit more pressure and a lot of work, but I’ve had some amazing opportunities and experiences which I wouldn’t have achieved without being involved in CSR. Not only have I gained some great experience but I’ve also met and worked with some fantastic people along the way and made great friends too. The highlights however have to be, being part of the team that delivered the coverage for Lounge On The Farm Festival 2009 and being project manager for 2010, attending the Student Radio Awards two years in a row, 2009 and 2010, and getting to meet one of my biggest inspirations, Steve Lamacq. But most importantly winning a Student Radio Award in October has to be one of my proudest and most fulfilling moments.

As a final year student I will be sad to leave CSR at the end of this academic year but I am excited by what the future holds both for myself and the next influx of talent that will continue to move the station forward. I guess the point I’ve been trying to make here is that with CSR the community and students have a unique opportunity to gain industry standard experience, discover a new passion, open up a host of new opportunities or generally just get involved in something really fun and exciting so what are you waiting for?

To become a member or find out more about CSR check out the website – www.csrfm.com or email me at manager@csrfm.com

Jean-Luc Goddard is arguably France’s most famous director; he was involved in a movement called the French new wave, a rebellion against the conventions of standard filmmaking. Alphaville, or Tarzan Vs IBM (its working title), is no exception. I found it very hard to follow and I spent most of the films duration trying to make sense of the actions. This is not necessarily a criticism, just because I was not in control of the situation as a viewer, it’s not to say that I didn’t enjoy the film.

The film is set on a different planet, in the future. Although the planet seems to be identical to ours, and the setting is typical of a 1960’s noir. The protagonist is a private eye who is trying to destroy the computer, Alpha 60, which resides in Alphaville. The computer has a way of altering humans so that they do not feel emotion; it makes them behave entirely logically. As a result it eradicates spontaneity, poetry, and art; without forms of expression, the human race becomes inhuman and impersonal. Anyone caught showing emotion is executed in the surreal form of being shot of a diving board, then stabbed by four synchronized swimmers. During the private eye’s mission he meets a woman and manages to make her fall in love with him, setting her free from the mindlessness of Alphaville.

I have recently been doing lots of research into the ideas of utopia and dystopia in film. I have watched this film, Kubrick’s 2001, Gilliam’s Brazil, and many Miyazaki’s. I have also read George Orwell’s, Animal Farm and am currently reading Nineteen Eighty Four. I think that Orwell’s work had a massive shaping on dystopian visions of the future, a passive human race being abused by the government. The films dystopian futures I have seen in film recently are not post apocalyptic or baron, they are narratives driven from the fundamental conflict of man and machine.

Alphaville is a poetic vision of individuality pitted against a detached inhuman race; this is a very interesting and bold subject for a film. However, due to the fact that Goddard tries to defy convention, it is very hard to watch. Towards the end of the film, it seems to meaninglessly switch into a negative image!

The film was delightfully complex, but a struggle to watch – 5/10

Jiu Jitsu, Ju Jitsu or simply Jitsu is a refined form of fighting skills originally used by Samurai warriors as an art of defence when they had lost their weapons or were faced with a bout of close quarters combat. Today it is utilised by many as a method of keeping active and fit whilst retaining the practical self-defence application. Many variations of Jitsu have been developed over the years but the most universally recognised school is The Jitsu Foundation and that is who CCCU Jitsu are affiliated with. In addition to weekly training sessions and pub visits, the club offers: weekend courses, regional training sessions and two BUCS recognised national competitions.

As a defensive martial art Jitsu may be less attractive to you, as you’d rather ‘look awesome’ applying your foot to someone else’s face after spinning around in the air. Granted there are very few actual strikes in Jitsu but when you are nose to nose with a mean brute twice your size, Jitsu will be effective. Another inhibitor may be that you believe yourself not to possess adequate fitness, strength or size. Jitsu is a technique that can be performed by anyone and is highly relevant in society today: covering defences ranging from a simple grab of the wrist to being attacked with weapons.

Jitsu is definitely worth a try whether you’ve never experienced martial arts before or as an up close and personal accompaniment to Taekwondo or Karate.

So throw on some loose clothing and CCCU Jitsu hopes to see you on the mat!

*The female counterpart was deplorably removed.

Current training time and location:

Our first session of term will be on the 13th January 2011

Costs:

Hopefully soon we will have two training sessions a week.

For more information please contact:

Club President: Laurence Ford – lcf14@canterbury.ac.uk

or

Instructor: Karl Wharton – karlwharton74@hotmail.com

www.jitsufoundation.org

The march will take place between Hyde Park and Trafalgar Square, starting at 12 pm and culminating in a series of talks by key figures, including Tony Benn, who spoke at the protest against the invasion of Iraq in 2003, and Guardian Journalist Seumas Milne. UNIfied will be reporting upon the demonstration and will be bringing the news to you via the UNIfied website. All Christ Church students are welcome to attend and witness the rally themselves if they wish to make their voices heard in the call for peace.

A call for an end to the war in Afghanistan is to be made on the 20th November in central London. A joint initiative between the Stop The War Coalition, CND, the British Muslim Initiative and several other affiliated groups, a large number of people are expected to take part in the demonstration, which will call for the immediate withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan and for British troops to return home. The Stop the War Coalition, which was behind what is believed to be the largest demonstration in British history, the 2003 protest against the invasion of Iraq in central London, has opposed the invasion of Afghanistan since it’s formation in September 2001, and has renewed its calls for the end of war in Afghanistan. It has local organisations all over the UK, and is planning to have all groups travel to London and march together on the 20th. It states its cause for opposition to the war being due to the growing body count of both Afghans and foreign soldiers, the thousands more people due to die under David Cameron’s plans to avoid withdrawal of troops until 2015, and widespread public opposition to the war, alongside the mounting costs of continuing the war whilst cuts at home are having to be made. The Coalition has pointed out that little more can be achieved over the next five years when the previous 10 have failed to fulfil all targets.

The march will take place between Hyde Park and Trafalgar Square, starting at 12 pm and culminating in a series of talks by key figures, including Tony Benn, who spoke at the protest against the invasion of Iraq in 2003, and Guardian Journalist Seumas Milne. UNIfied will be reporting upon the demonstration and will be bringing the news to you via the UNIfied website, but urges all Christ Church students to attend and witness the rally themselves, and to make their voices heard in the call for peace.

On the 7th November the South-East Asian nation of Burma, also known as Myanmar, will hold its first general election since 1990. As of 1962 the country has been ruled by a military government, which has forcibly crushed every call for democracy since then (most publicly and recently in the October 2007 Saffron Revolution). Given this history of violence, authoritarianism, and either the manipulation or dismissal of election and referendum results, instead of being a step towards democracy and much needed change the regime will use the results of the election as false evidence of its legitimacy. The Burmese elections are therefore widely regarded as illegitimate.
To make a comparison between the students of Burma and the UK is to see a world of difference. Burmese students are banned from having their own newspapers, their libraries are kept empty, students or tutors who criticise the authorities disappear, and to make a crude analogy, it’s as if the Conservative government had refused to relinquish power upon their defeat in the general election of 1964 and continued to rule ever since (read more at www.newint.org/features/2008/05/01/education/). The plans of the military dictatorship to use these elections as evidence of its legitimacy both to the Burmese people and the international community are highly contentious, given that the leader of the opposition party, Aung San Suu Kyi has been placed under house detention until after the elections, all opposition parties are outlawed from criticising the incumbent government, and that currently there are an estimated 2,200 Burmese people, a large percentage of who are students, in prison for protesting. Likewise, a 2008 referendum returned results that declared 92% of Burmese people, despite just having been catastrophically failed by their government during a hurricane crisis, approved of a highly undemocratic constitution (see www.newint.org/blog/editors/2008/05/09/burmas-referendum-among-ruins/).
The current rulers of Burma are military leaders, and given such a background it is not surprising that during their regime they have pushed their nation into a politically isolated and economically unstable position. The Saffron Revolution was not just a protest against the authoritarian regime but also against the unfeasible living standards, particularly the unaffordable price of food and fuel (www.hrw.org/en/node/10572/section/7). The current dictators are clearly not capable of running a country, yet insist on total control.
This all sounds very pessimistic. There is no changing the fact that these elections will improve nothing, but the point of this article is to highlight that there are actions which can be taken in solidarity. Look up the Burmese election in the news, and remember that when democracy there is defeated, it must find ready help from elsewhere.
Sign the petition calling for the release of various prisoners of conscience, including the leader of the main opposition party leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, at www. amnesty.org.uk/burma
Click onto www.burmacampaign.co.uk for further information and actions to be taken, as well as News Internationalist (www.newint.org/features/1996/06/05/action/).
Also, don’t forget to keep an eye on the UNIfied website for updates and coverage.