‘Pen to Paper’ is a feature on TDP which involves an informal handwritten form of interview between myself and creatives – from fashion designers, photographers, journalists, artists and musicians, to people who generally inspire me from day-to-day.
After working in the advertising industry for over 20 years, Ben Akers has in more recent times, turned to the world of sustainability to concentrate on creating positive and inspiring campaigns and documentaries.
Ben is known for his now multi-award winning documentary, “Slowing Down Fast Fashion” (with Blur’s Alex James) and will soon be running his first year of Good Fest, a festival held in Cornwall, UK.
~ READ THE FULL TRANSCRIPT HERE ~
As you should know by now, the lightbulb moment for me when it came to ethics and sustainability was when I watched the documentary, The True Cost, a few years ago after the Rana Plaza Disaster. I came away from watching it feeling saddened yet inspired because I knew from that moment on, I wouldn’t be able to rest easy simply pushing this information about the industry I loved, into the back of my mind.
Since then I’ve watched several other documentaries from different perspectives and I’ve been introduced to lots of other storytellers, including more recently, Ben Akers, who wrote and directed Slowing Down Fast Fashion a few years ago. For now though, Ben is currently working on Goodfest in Cornwall, which is his own sustainable festival coming to the southwest of England in April.
Thank you 🙂 That’s nice to hear. Well, I suppose I tried to solve the problem. Coming from an advertising background I’m a problem solver – most documentaries are made with a journalistic eye. To tell a story, I want to solve a problem so with my first doc, it was all about making a sustainable choice with the clothes we wear. With my current film: “Steve”, inspired by my childhood best friend who took his own life, I’m looking at human sustainability – how suicide is the biggest killer of men under 45 in the UK. A problem that needs solving.
I’m actually a bit overwhelmed by sustainability sometimes 🙂 Walking the walk not just talking it isn’t always easy. From the clothes we wear to how we bank. And many things I do still aren’t perfect, but I’m trying to win each battle when I can.
I went veggie a couple of years ago for environmental reasons, and I actually thought it was harder than it was. It was actually refreshing. I’ve had to be far more creative with what I eat, so if you haven’t yet, do it. To me, it’s about building habits, good habits that improve your life. And teach good things to my kids.
I think what Ben has to say about switching to a vegetarian lifestyle applies to a lot of things – the task of adapting and building new habits can at first seem daunting and almost impossible but if you put your mind to it and truly understand the value in doing so, it doesn’t have to be such a challenge. I’m currently at the pescatarian stage of switching to vegetarianism myself and my family has had a similar experience; you start to become more creative in how you approach things.
Ah Goodfestcornwall.com – buy tickets and come – hahahaha. Well in the words of Kevin Costner in “Fields of Dreams” – “Build it and they will come” – So I’ve got 20 inspirational speakers; Tim Smit (Eden Project), JC (Founder of Movember), Zoe Robinson (Good Wardrobe), Pat Smith (Action Man). My hope is that if people see all these people then they will join the party. It’s relaxed. It’s inspirational. It’s my attempt to build a sustainable solution to ideas for good to have a home. So if anyone who is reading this is free on the 27th/28th April 2018 and wants to be a part of the solution… goodfestcornwall.com SAND, SEA & SUSTAINABILITY.
Watching from afar when I’m spending time in Italy, the changes and new laws and regulations being put into place in the UK right now excite me, which makes me believe that it’s currently the perfect time for an event like Goodfest. Not only do we need more people to jump onboard the train of thinking differently, we also need it to be done in an inspiring and positive manner. We need good to balance out the negativity of it all.
I’d definitely be most interested in hearing Zoe from The Good Wardrobe talk, especially seeing as a lot of her focus is on repair and upcycling.
One question I was most interested in asking Ben can be found below. Ben also explained to me that he’s worked with many different women over the years too, including former Greenpeace Head of Communications, Dae Levine – “She was amazingly inspirational on many different levels and we tackled many great projects together”.
Women are more caring. Women are more nurturing. Women often look at the bigger picture. I’m a feminist, I’m a bird with a beard. Actually, I’m extremely lucky. I have grown up surrounded by very strong intelligent women. My mum, my sister, my wife (hopefully my daughters) are all women who make me look differently at the world. I also know a load of blokes who are in “environmentalism” – but they are all similar to me. Aware of the future.
Being a dad helps. As a father of (now) 3 (my youngest daughter is now 3 months old) kids make you think more. Do more. Expect more for them. Want more for them. And as a dad, that’s my job, and to be honest it’s what that label covers. Many scientists who I read about are male. So it’s both.
Ben’s work for Greenpeace Australia in 2013
If you have the chance, I highly recommend taking a look at Ben’s fast-fashion documentary on Amazon because as I said, it’s a surprisingly easy watch for such a hard and gritty topic to discuss. And if you’re in Cornwall… Goodfest might be worth looking into, as well.
Have you watched Slowing Down Fast Fashion? Who would you like to see me interview next? Leave a comment below.
