Author Archives: ncowie

Trash, the movie

collage trash

Richard Curtis, has adapted Andy Mulligan’s novel Trash into a screenplay. The filming took place in Brazil, not the Philippines, so that is an interesting choice. However, Mulligan did not name Manila as the setting in the book. Stephen Daldry is the director and the most well-known stars are Martin Sheen and Rooney Mara. The film will be out in May.

To create the dump setting, a gravel mine was turned into huge artificial landfill. The filmmakers didn’t use a real rubbish dump as they needed to protect the cast and crew from getting sick. The filmmakers used tonnes of recyclable material, including car bodies, to build the dump. As Mulligan’s book said that the slum was over a lake, the crew had to fill up a huge lake they dug themselves. They added fish to the fake lake to lower the numbers of mosquitos. Dogs even turned up and made the fake dump their home! To attract vultures animal bodies were put on top of the rubbish mountain. The crew also used rats and cockroaches when they filmed the scenes at Rat’s home. Eww!

Trash setting

trash

When author Andy Mulligan was asked what inspired him to write ‘Trash’ he said that it was the setting. Mulligan explained that it was, “a vast dumpsite in Manila, which is where I live and work – a gorgeous country, full of paradise islands and the most hospitable people in the world. But…like so many countries, wracked by certain problems. A friend told me a true story: that the dumpsite children spend most of their time sorting through parcels of human excrement. We all know about child labour, but that detail – that little vision of hell – wouldn’t leave me. I wanted to write about some of those children, and allow them to fight back”.

In the Philippines there was a famous rubbish dump called Smokey Mountain. Smokey Mountain was a 2,000,000 ton rubbish dump, which was the waste disposal facility for Manila for more than 40 years. It was full of decomposing waste and rubbish fires (that’s where the smoky name comes from). Smokey Mountain was the home for a community of about 30,000 people, who scavenged through the rubbish for survival. Remember survival is our overarching theme for this term and this novel shows what some people have to do to survive in the world.

Instant Poetry

Screenshot 2014-02-23 16.03.15

I have been playing with a great poetry app called Instant Poetry. The app allows you to create your own poetry, with your own pictures as backgrounds. You tap a button to pop up some words, and then drag them around the screen to create your poem. Works on an iPad, iPhone and iPad Touch. It isn’t free ($2.99) but it is worth it. Great for those writers who want a helping hand to kick them off.

Ribblestrop

ribblestrop

The library has just ordered the Ribblestrop series by Trash author Andy Mulligan and it should be here soon. According to Mulligan’s website the first book in the series is about:

Roofless dormitories, distracted teachers and a lethally dangerous underground labyrinth – Ribblestrop’s visionary headmaster is out of his depth even before the pupils arrive! And when they do – what a bunch! There’s Sanchez, a Colombian gangster’s son hiding from kidnappers; Millie, an excluded arsonist and self-confessed wild child; Casper, the landlady’s spoiled grandson; the helpful but hapless Sam and his best friend Ruskin, plus a handful of orphans from overseas, who are just happy to have beds – even if they are located in a roofless part of the building…Anything could happen – and anything does!

Want to find out more? Try this review of Ribblestrop.

Andy Mulligan

andy

So just who is Andy Mulligan? Well, according to his website  this is him in a nutshell:

Andy Mulligan was brought up in South London. He worked as a theatre director for ten years before travels in Asia prompted him to retrain as a teacher. He has taught English and drama in India, Brazil, Vietnam, the Philippines and the UK. He now lives in England, and is writing full time. The Ribblestrop trilogy is now complete: Ribblestrop, Forever! Brings closure to the series. ‘Return to Ribblestrop’ won the coveted Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize 2011.

Trash is a very different animal. Hailed by the Times as ‘outstanding …exceptionally satisfying‘, Trash is first and foremost a thriller. It tells the story of three dumpsite boys and an astonishing discovery they make amongst the city’s refuse. Smart enough to know they have something truly special – truly life-changing – they try to stay one step ahead of a vengeful police force out to silence them. The novel shifts rapidly from the squalid slums of a third-world city, to its prisons and graveyards. David Fickling published Trash in the Autumn of 2010 in the UK and the USA and the book is now published in twenty-five languages across the globe. The novel was shortlisted for the 2012 Carnegie medal, and film rights were snapped up soon after UK publication. Filming has just finished in Rio de Janeiro. Stephen Daldry directed Martin Sheen and Rooney Mara, plus a host of Brazilian stars.

‘Free Nelson Mandela’ by the Special A.K.A.: The Story of a Song that Helped Change the World

In an excerpt from his book on protest songs, Dorian Lynskey details the turbulent creation of the 1984 single that spread anti-apartheid sentiment across the globe. It is an interesting read and connects to work on ‘Get up! Stand up!’, especially the protest songs assessment. There are also links to the Year 9 ‘Heroes’ theme.