An intimate portrait of the enormous adversity within three very different lives, in which the people-centred creative activities run by an arts project introduces confidence, hope and change.  We are introduced to Heather who was continually bullied while growing up; Grace who is now old and alone after times of poverty; and Rob who was regularly fostered and tries to keep himself sane.  The film handles the difficult and very personal testimonies with unusual sensitivity, and uses multimedia visuals and original soundtrack to intense effect.  

Socially oriented arts projects have become, perhaps rightly, thought of and spurned for their tokenism in areas of deprivation, for their inability to initiate structural changes for communities.  This narrative effectively introduces us to how such creative activities can at least at a personal level have a deep and symbolic permanence in people’s lives, and in addition can motivate those people to activate real changes to then take place.

On visiting a number of the Pathways arts activities the director, Kooj, was immediately impressed by the way that people were absorbed in the act of creativity.   “As an artist I am used to meeting others who undertake creative endeavours, yet there was something particularly refreshing when witnessing these workshops in writing, painting, drama, photography, or whatever.  It was something much more than the therapeutic process which I thought would be the mainstay of the activities.   The creative process for most participants here comes after or during considerable adversity, which gives the work a deeper and underlying sensitivity, both vulnerable and strong at the same time.  I mused that this process might in many ways be closer to the endeavours of the great artists than most arts students ever engage with, particularly when seeing the seriousness with which many participants undertook the activities.”

Through the stories of the individuals who bravely volunteered to tell their stories on film for all to watch so that others can see, learn, benefit and be moved, we can understand a wider and deeper human context to this kind of work.  “No Frame Required” is a rare film to witness.