Hi,
I've checked with Dan that it's OK for me to post here and he mentioned some of you may be able to help me.
I'm at the early stages of research for a Channel 4 documentary about foreign marriages. I'm not sure where you're from but Channel 4 is a TV station in the UK that shows lots of documentaries and considers itself quite 'highbrow'. We're looking to make a film about UK men who have found or are finding wives abroad. This could be for a number of reasons i.e. they like a different culture, they're sick of UK women or they're simply looking for a new experience.
I understand that a lot of you will already be sceptical about this and about my motivations. There's not a lot I can do about this. But what I can do is tell why I want to make this film. I make documentaries to show what's happening in the world around us and hopefully allow us to understand it better. There are thousands of women from the former Soviet Union now living in the UK, people who have made it their home, who have married UK men and are having UK families. They are very part of our fabric yet remain somewhat of a silent presence.
I'm particularly keen to give a voice to these women. Women who have left one culture for another. I want this to be a film about their lives made by them. Maybe it's just me, but I get the feeling that they've historically been portrayed as mute accessories. I want them and their UK counterparts to tell about their journeys and why they've making them.
That's my intention, plain and simple. I, and Channel 4, feel very passionately that as the world becomes smaller and people are meeting partners over the internet as a matter of course, these stereotypes are thoroughly outdated.
I'm looking for cases of women just about to come to the UK or are just about to be married. Cases of couples now living together in the UK are also of interest.
At this stage I'm simply trying to find out as much as I can. Sorry if this isn't for you, but if you want to chat and help me understand things further it'll be off the record and in confidence. Also, if there's anyone you can think off that may be helpful I'd love it if you could pass them my details.
I really want this to work. Many thanks again for your time.
Nick
Nick Holt
Producer
Betty TV
24 Store Street
London WC1E 7BA
Direct Tel: +44 (0)20 7153 4569 (or 020 7290 0660 after March 6)
Email:
nick@bettytv.co.uk
