Georgina Colman (Director):
Carl and I attended the Extinction Rebellion ‘Deckchair Disaster’ Action on Perranporth Beach to Highlight Sea Level Rising. We joined XR’s own media team, supervised by Alice Ferguson. I responded to an email asking for volunteer crew to help document an action for local XR rebels, because it was so late notice and we used a mixture of kit owned by members of the crew. Really wonderful day, the weather was atrocious. I thought they might cancel it however they had a press release out for over a month in anticipation of this event so they went ahead. The fact that the weather was so bad meant that only the most dedicated Cornwall based XR people showed up, which was fantastic for making contacts.
We arrived at 3.30pm, then went to the pub which is where XR based themselves, having booked out a space to act as their base. Red Rebels, Penitents and other people involved in the event were changing and preparing for the event. It was really humanising to see these famous media figures helping each other with their make-up and costumes. What struck me is that this is well organised activism. It’s a community of normal everyday people who are united. They care so much about this. Its admirable.
The red rebels were there, as were the Penitents. We sourced our kit from the crew and were included as part of the event’s media team. We got to attend the press briefing with ITV and Cornwall Live. We set the camera up with a M & S plastic bag to shield it from the rain. We thought we’d have more time at the briefing, to work out what was happening and then get wetsuits on, however the storm made the tide come in faster, so the event kicked off almost immediately. Then it was scrambling to get down to the 1st Deckchair location and get stuck in.
Both myself and Carl got caught in the tide and were drenched. The torrential rain made sure we kept drenched. Carl stated if you give me the camera I’ll go in the sea. I asked him if he was sure, because I didn’t want him to put himself at risk. He was sure so I transferred the camera to him. Then opened my own camera. One of the organisers started shouting to clear the beach if you weren’t a Red Rebel, A Penitent or part of the action. Luckily, volunteering for the Press team meant that we had access to the beach, granting us access to the red rebels. Allowing a real first-hand experience of what was going on. The team included, Alice, Issy Stephens (A second year who we recruited for our doc), Carl and me.
I scrambled over the sea wall to quickly get a different angle as there was already three of us on the beach getting essentially the same angle. This allowed me to understand how the event looked from a spectator’s point of view and really get both sides of the event.
When the event came to a close, we all went back to the pub base, everyone changed into their dry clothes. Cornwall XR (Mid Cornwall I think, I would need to confirm) de briefed and I helped with the interviews and got to know Alice a bit better. I also got to watch the dynamics of the activist group. The hand signals, which I had already learnt from the Student XR meeting on the previous Monday.
People have joked that they are like a cult, however at this stage of my research that couldn’t be further from the truth. You get a real sense that these people are all just normal people with lives outside of this. What did strike me is how democratic the proceedings are, how they acknowledge and are grateful for each person’s contribution.
The fact that they carried on with this event despite the horrific conditions, proved that they aren’t just fair-weather rebels, they aren’t just bored people looking for something to do when it is sunny.
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