WHAT WE ARE AND WHAT WE DO
All Hands On is a not for profit company, registered in Scotland, and limited by guarantee. Our articles of association include an asset lock.
Our aims are to strengthen the resolve of political reformers, and to enthuse, educate and empower ordinary people to become politically literate and politically active. We do this through documentary films and multimedia journalism. Our stories show how ordinary citizens - in a conducive environment for deliberation - deliver excellent political outcomes. We are impact filmmakers intent on generating visceral impacts on audiences for deliberate effect. Our model for change means creating inspiring tools for grassroots movement makers, which can also work to embolden political office holders.
We make our films freely available to people and organisations wishing to promote or organise well-intentioned and well-structured Citizens’ Assemblies.
WHO WE ARE
We are Patrick Chalmers and Phil Adams. Patrick is a journalist, author and film-maker. And he is Political Literacy Correspondent for The Correspondent. Phil has 30 years of experience in advertising, digital marketing and communications strategy. This is Patrick’s Director’s Note on the intent behind the All Hands On project:
I worked as a Reuters journalist for eleven years, covering financial markets, politics and the environment out of London, Brussels and Kuala Lumpur. I saw at first hand how conventional media collude with big business and governments to subvert democracy to their various ends, at the expense of ordinary citizens. So I quit Reuters and channelled my disillusionment into a book: Fraudcast News (How bad journalism supports our bogus democracies). The work was an exercise in whistle blowing, shining a light on most media’s complicity with power.
All Hands On is a search for solutions to that political crisis. Using moving pictures rather than the written word, I am exploring ways in which the status quo’s stranglehold on power can be released. And how, in the process, we citizens can become more politically adult and work together on solving the huge challenges of our time.
Where the money comes from
Our films are funded by grants, commissions and individual donations.
We are very grateful to newDemocracy Foundation, Guerrilla Foundation, and La Fondation Pour Les Générations Futures for grants received to date.
We are deeply touched that several individuals have been moved to help the cause out of their own pockets. If you are similarly moved you can help directly via our Donate page. Thank you.
How we work
We make friends at the same time as making films.
We put great emphasis on respect, empathy, fairness and transparency.
TEACHING POWER
An exemplary citizens’ assembly process in Malawi. Ordinary people rise to the challenge of making local spending decisions more transparent and more beneficial to their communities. Having had a taste of political agency, the participants determine to spread the word and keep things going beyond the end of the official project. Teaching Power is a film of hope and not a little joy.
OUT OF THE RUINS
Shot in Athens in May 2019, Out Of The Ruins highlights the stark contrast between the circus of modern elections and outbreaks of true democracy as practised by citizens who are weary of politics as usual. Portraits of self-determination in the democratic style of the Ancient Athenians.
THE DELIBERATE REBELLION
Our second film for Extinction Rebellion, The Deliberate Rebellion, goes into more detail on the organisation’s purpose and strategy, and examines in more detail the demand for a Citizens’ Assembly on the climate and ecological emergency.
Welcome To The Rebellion
Welcome To The Rebellion was commissioned by Extinction Rebellion. It explains their Beyond Politics demand, which calls for a Citizens’ Assembly to determine and dictate policy on climate breakdown.
When Citizens Assemble
Our pilot film - When Citizens Assemble - tells the story of Ireland’s Citizens’ Assembly and how it succeeded, where politicians had repeatedly failed, in breaking the deadlock around the country’s controversial and divisive abortion legislation.