Sep 022014
 

Anthony Baxter talks to Suzanne Kelly about golf, human rights, Robert F Kennedy Junior, politicians, and Glenfiddich. By Suzanne Kelly.

dangerous game hare2

‘A Dangerous Game’ will be on general release as of Friday 5th September in Scotland.

Anthony Baxter and Richard Phinney set out some years ago to make a documentary. Their subject was Donald Trump building a golf course on the Menie Estate, and what life was like for the residents. The filmmakers didn’t expect to be arrested for their investigative journalism. Then again, they didn’t expect to win virtually every documentary prize worldwide for the resulting film, either.

But that’s what their first film, ‘You’ve Been Trumped’ did.

‘A Dangerous Game’ is the sequel, and unusually for a documentary, it will be on general release as of Friday 5th September in Scotland, with English cinemas following on the 12th September.

The film premiered in Canada, Sheffield and at the Edinburgh International Film Festival to great acclaim. Anthony Baxter will hold a Question and Answer session and panel discussion after the 5th September 18:30 showing at Cineworld in Aberdeen’s Union Square. On the cusp of its general release.

A brief history of Trump

It was June of 2011 when as a new contributor to Aberdeen Voice I went to Aberdeen’s Belmont Cinema to see the brand new documentary ‘You’ve Been Trumped’, and to interview its makers, Anthony Baxter and Richard Phinney.

By way of background, Trump was initially turned down by the Aberdeenshire Council for his grandiose scheme, until Alex Salmond, who had wined and dined with The Donald on both sides of the Atlantic, sashayed in and took the normal planning process away from the shire.

Salmond, who to this day has not visited the Menie residents despite their being his constituents, had the Scottish government hold an inquiry which led to the green light for Trump, concluding that there would be thousands of jobs and that environmental protection was less important than these jobs, jobs which never materialised. Donald Trump got his way.

Perhaps that should that be ‘The Don’ and not the Donald: the BBC has linked him to organised crime in the USA.

The bulldozers moved in, residents refused to move out, even when Trump-employed tricksters tried to buy their homes under false pretences.

Residents were then under siege. Property was destroyed: David Milne’s fence, Michael Forbes’ boat and other possessions. Their water supply pipe was ‘accidentally’ broken by Trump diggers, police threatened residents with arrest if they went through newly erected gates, and private security illegally demanded frequent identity checks.

Susan Munro’s cottage was veritably surrounded by high mounds of earth which blocked the light and blew dirt and dust into her home, also ruining automobile engines. The once wild area became a veritable personal dictatorship with the blessing of the government.

A Dangerous Precedent

So is The Trumpster alone in seeking greenbelt land to manicure into submission? Not at all, as Anthony and ‘A Dangerous Game’ explain.

While much of the new film is concerned with the Menie Estate, it is largely set in Dubrovnik, a beautiful, UNESCO heritage site with a long, important history.

Naturally it is now in the crosshairs of international property developers who want to create a golf resort. These developers will, it seems, get to turn the wilderness area above the city into a resort for the rich golfer, with considerable local government collaboration and contempt for democracy and rule of law easing their path.

This undemocratic modus operandi is happening in many places. What’s wrong with turning legally protected wild areas into golf courses? Nothing, aside from losing public green spaces, wildlife habitat and biodiversity, greenskeeping chemicals which do leech into the water table, and corruption in governments leading to exploitation of resources and contempt for the electorate.

Part of the film shows how towns like Montrose manage to encourage golfing without the environmental destruction, architectural aberration or megalomania. Not so at Menie, not so at Dubrovnik.

A Dangerous Film

The film talks to environmental campaigners, and to Trump and his son. Father and son taped the interviews independently of Anthony, so as to prevent them from being badly edited or being made to look foolish. Heaven forfend.

The new film is again beautifully filmed and edited. However, there are rich and powerful people in several countries who won’t be coming out of this looking very good at all. If ‘You’ve Been Trumped’ stirred the pot, ‘A Dangerous Game’ is potentially explosive.

Playing Catch Up

Anthony has been working nearly non-stop for months, if not years now. We finally get to speak at some length.

“I’m very excited to get the film out, to get the story to the audience.”

He explains:

“I want to get across the important message about democracy and how it breaks down when those who are supposed to represent us don’t do so. 

“It’s unusual to have a documentary released in cinemas. There will be a Q&A session and panel discussions. ‘A Dangerous Game’ will be in cinema multiplexes as well as art house theatres.”

We inevitably discuss the Scottish Referendum. Anthony says:

“This film is not about independence, but it is about our democracy. We have a responsibility to be vigilant, whichever side wins on September 18th.”

The film steers clear of the concurrent Scottish independence referendum debate, but it does not steer clear of criticising those who have earned criticism. It is undeniable that Alex Salmond’s intervention and previous enthusiasm for Trump’s megalomaniacal plans trumped, if you will, due process, existing environmental protection legislation, and the rights of Menie Estate residents.

It somehow feels as if the Menie Estate’s environment and people are being forgotten by the government behind the walls of dirt and sand that Trump had built up around the properties which he called ‘eyesores’ and ‘wanted pulled down’. Alex Salmond is meant to represent the Menie residents, it’s his constituency.

He’s turned down many invitations to come and watch ‘You’ve Been Trumped.’ He has been asked to visit the estate prior to the sequel’s premiere on the 5th September, and to come to the premiere too. Answer comes there none. (I’m still waiting Alex; do come to the Aberdeen screening on the 5th and/or the after party: there are people who would love to speak with you).

Anthony elaborates:

“The residents live in Salmond’s constituency, and even after the public outcry and outpouring of sympathy, the Trump organisation continues to make life difficult for them.”

Anthony mentions resident Mickey Foote, who wonders about the ‘duty of care’ or lack thereof, shown by his elected representatives.

 “Alex Salmond is of course busy, but in eight years of driving past the area, he has never once visited the residents in their homes.” 

Anthony quotes Robert F Kennedy Jr. in the film and to me:

“Wherever you see environmental injury you also see the subversion of democracy. The two things go hand in hand. They always do.”

 If it can happen in Scotland in the 21st century, it can certainly happen to Dubrovnik too.

Anthony continues:

“Something in our democracy is broken and we have to fix it.”

Resident David Milne tried to fix it by starting a petition, among many other actions, to ask for a full inquiry into how the police, Scottish National Heritage, the local government’s planning people and other organisations behaved during and after the controversial planning application favoured Trump’s plans.

No fewer than 19,000 people signed this request, and the Scottish Government petitions committee, seven people, had to take the matter up. Their methodology? To ask all of the organisations in the firing line for grave failures whether they should be investigated or not.

Unsurprisingly, these organisations, all caught in undemocratic actions, declined to be investigated. Clearly confused, the petitions committee also seemed to think that the hearing to grant the planning permission was enough of an investigation to hold, even though actions such as the police failings clearly, obviously occurred after planning was granted.

Many people including me contacted the committee. They refused to explain anything on the matter and it is now permanently closed. When we discuss this, Anthony’s voice changes slightly; he sounds rightly angry.

“David Milne is an ordinary person, he’s not a lawyer and he’s been forced by circumstances to spend great amounts of time just trying to protect his rights and to have this investigation. It’s shocking how he was treated by the committee.”

We discuss the unfairness of this decision and many other issues. He tells me:

“We have every right to expect there will be logic in our democracy.”

I can’t argue, but it’s clear we don’t have much logic going around these days. The bunds blocking light from the Munro house were never part of the planning permission; they are still standing at full height despite what the law says. Gates are locked, stopping people exercising their right to roam.

The Government may not have wanted this issue looked at, despite the request of 19,000 people. However, people power came to the fore in spades when Michael Forbes was voted Top Scot of the Year by the public in Glenfiddich’s annual awards.

The awards night is beautifully captured in ‘A Dangerous Game’, and like the events in Dubrovnik that Anthony and Richard have documented, it serves to show that people can still make a difference when they act together. Baxter and Phinney have demonstrated that even one or two people can make a world of difference as well.

Continuing on the theme of awards, we talk about the nature of Trump the man, and Anthony brings up the award Trump ‘won’ – captured in the film. Trump proudly threw a press conference to announce he received a ‘six diamond award’ and that these ‘aren’t just given out’.

Except they are, if you are connected to the awarding organisation.

“It was a bogus award ceremony held on the Trump course – not a single person there did anything to find out why a 90-year-old woman still has no proper water supply.” 

I am completely taken aback: I had no idea that the water pipe broken by the Trump people’s operations so many years ago, leaving them with no running water, has not in all this time been repaired correctly. I am writing again to the Trump organisation; and will advise what the reply is. The web page trumpeting this six diamond award includes two Press & Journal congratulatory articles.

But where was the local press when Molly Forbes was carrying water from a stream in buckets, and Michael and Sheila Forbes were without water as well? In bed with the Trump administration literally, as Evening Express beauty queen ‘face of Aberdeen’ Sarah Malone married Aberdeen Journals Ltd’s Damian Bates; she is a Trump VP at Menie, despite having virtually no relevant previous experience.

Coincidentally, Baxter’s award-winning film concerning a local problem has received virtually no coverage, the residents and politicians standing up to Trump were mocked in the local printed press. We discuss the importance of having a free press that is not beholden to the rich and powerful and which lets people know what is really going on.

Since the Edinburgh premiere, Trump’s been busy. He’s now active in Ireland, and has turned Turnberry into Trump Turnberry. I ask if Anthony will be using any of these developments.

“We’re just tweaking a few details, there is the purchase of the Irish resort. We’ll add some pictures.”

Anthony’s taken time out to speak to me on the morning of his birthday; I don’t want to eat into his day, and we leave it there, for now. The film will be in Aberdeen at Cineworld Union Square and at the links. We will catch up further then.

‘A Dangerous Game’ – Release date 5th September 2014

Starring ….

Donald Trump, Michael Forbes, Alec Baldwin, Karine Polwart, Robert Kennedy Jr.

The 6:30 p.m. screening on the 5th September at Aberdeen Union Square has a Q&A with Director Anthony Baxter and characters from the film. A funny and eye-opening documentary exploring the environmental impact of luxury golf courses around the world.

Three years ago, Anthony Baxter released his entertaining ‘You’ve Been Trumped’. It followed US tycoon Donald Trump’s controversial plan to build a golf resort on Scotland’s beautiful, unspoilt north-east coastline. This was hailed as the best documentary of the year by renowned film critic Mark Kermode.

Now Baxter’s follow-up finds out what happened to Trump’s scheme – and to local farmer Michael Forbes, who refused to sell his land to the billionaire.

This time, Trump agrees to a full interview, which proves to be a memorable encounter! Baxter also broadens his scope to take a look at the ecological cost of similar luxury resorts being constructed for the super-rich in other countries. His travels take him as far afield as China, Las Vegas and Dubrovnik in Croatia. Contributors include environmental lawyer Robert F. Kennedy and actor and activist Alec Baldwin.

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Bliddy Hypocrites

 Creative Writing, Opinion  Comments Off on Bliddy Hypocrites
Jun 212013
 

By Bob Smith.

The”P&J” wis ask’t tae leave
A  debate aboot eddicashun
They took iss aa tae hairt
As a slur on Press reputashun

A maun agree with the paper’s view
An they shudna hae bin chucked oot
Bit they’re bein a bittie hypocritical
Fin ither facts they’ve gien the boot

“Iss wis a maitter o public interest
An the pros an cons needed airin”
So says their ain opinion column
Yet TUT views they’re nae fer blarin

Cast yer myn back a fyow ‘ear ago
In the paper TUT cwid nae be vocal
Cos accordin tae the “P&J” editor
The organisation it wisna local

Noo  is his bin since proved
Tae be a richt heap o shite
There’s lots o local fowkies
Faa in TUT took up the fight

A wid say in the public interest
Tripping Up Trump maun be heard
Their pros an cons aboot Trumpie
Wi aabody shud be shared

So cum aa ye “P&J” hypocrites
It’s time tae pit things richt
An owerturn iss stupid ban
So TUT views see the licht

Bob Smith “The Poetry Mannie” 2013

Sep 142011
 

Scotland’s Parliament is gearing up for a special screening of the award-winning documentary You’ve Been Trumped today, but First Minister Alex Salmond has declined an invitation to attend, sighting ‘long standing ministerial commitments’. 

Also absent from the Holyrood event will be Scotland’s Finance Secretary John Swinney MSP.  In a statement, Mr Swinney’s office said he was unable to attend due to ‘prior commitments’.  Mr Salmond has previously declined invitations to several presentations of the film across Scotland, including the green-carpet premiere in Aberdeen and subsequent screenings in Edinburgh and Glasgow.

 Scotland’s Government was responsible for giving Donald Trump’s controversial golf development the go-ahead at the Menie Estate in Aberdeenshire.

However, a number of high profile politicians and key environmental figures have booked places for this evening’s jam-packed Edinburgh screening, including Patrick Harvie MSP (Scottish Green Party Co-Convenor) Stan Blackley, Chief Executive, Friends of the Earth Scotland and geomorphologist Dr Jim Hansom, University of Glasgow (who gave evidence to the Scottish Government inquiry on the Trump development on behalf of Scottish Natural Heritage).

Also present will be Menie Estate resident David Milne whose home overlooks Mr Trump’s resort.  Mr Milne said:

“It’s very important to bring this film to Parliament to emphasise to those who make the laws that it’s not abstract. It’s all about living, breathing, people who have a right to live unharrassed in their own homes, in a landscape that should never have been touched.”

Also watching the documentary unspool will be academics, golf writers and legal experts including Frances McCartney, whose client, 87 year old widow Molly Forbes, has been threatened with eviction and a legal bill of up to £50,000 by US billionaire Donald Trump.

Mr Trump’s office in New York has yet to respond to a personal invitation to the event.

Meanwhile politicians who have not booked their place are being urged to do so by Bob Ward, Policy and Communications Director at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at London School of Economics and Political Science who recently saw You’ve Been Trumped in London.   Mr Ward describes the tycoon’s efforts to build a golf resort on Site of Special Scientific Interest as ruthless in an article for The Guardian.

Director Anthony Baxter who will also be at the screening said, “We wanted to make it as easy as possible for Scotland’s decision-makers to see the film.  We await to see if any other members of the Government will attend today’s screening, to comment on what an international film jury recently described as:

“one of the worst environmental crimes in recent UK history.”

Today’s screening at the Scottish Parliament is being staged by the Take One Action Film Festival.

Aug 032011
 

Anthony Baxter takes time out again from promoting his film to update Aberdeen Voice readers.  Don’t look for the story in the Press & Journal.
Don’t look for any updates in the Evening Express.  Except for STV, Northsound, and of course the Voice – as far as the local press is concerned,
IT NEVER HAPPENED Now read on…

Traverse City, Michigan, USA:

The Scottish-made documentary ‘You’ve Been Trumped’ scooped its second major film festival award in as many months after clinching the Special Jury Prize at Michael Moore’s prestigious Traverse City Film  Festival, which has just drawn to a close in Michigan, USA. Oscar-winning director Moore was present for the awards at the City’s famous State Theatre – a renovated classic cinema dating back to 1916.

“This is a huge honour and we’re delighted to accept this award,” said Anthony Baxter.

Producer Richard Phinney also attended the ceremony – the filmmakers were among a record 100 brought to Michigan with the help of a grant to the festival from the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences.

The festival was founded by Academy Award-winning Director Michael Moore, who runs the festival and serves as president of its board of directors.

Other board members are photographer John Robert Williams and New York Times best-selling author Doug Stanton, both Traverse City residents, and filmmakers Larry Charles (director, “Borat”), Terry George (director, “Hotel Rwanda”), Sabina Guzzanti (director, “Viva Zapatero!”), and Christine Lahti (actor, “Running on Empty”).

The 95-minute feature documentary You’ve Been Trumped tells the story of the American  tycoon Donald Trump building a golf course resort on one of Scotland’s last wilderness areas north of Aberdeen.

Branded ‘a failure’ by the Trump Organisation, You’ve Been Trumped proved to be a sell-out hit at its World Premiere at Hot Docs in Toronto in May (despite claims from Creative Scotland that ‘nobody would watch it’).

The film has since played to packed cinemas through special preview screenings in major cities across Scotland in association with Take One Action and also as part of the acclaimed Stranger than Fiction series at New York’s IFC Center.  Further screenings are on the way (see last week’s Voice for listings).

Taking to the stage in Traverse City with fellow filmmaker Phinney to receive the award, Baxter thanked the hundreds of crowd-funders who had supported the film.

 “We were refused all funding to make You’ve Been Trumped and so I’d like to say a special thank you to the hundreds of people from around the world who enabled us to finish the film with donations from twenty countries.”

A tribute was also paid to Michael Moore for inviting the film to the festival along with dozens of other world-class award-winning documentaries – as well as to the 1300 volunteers who made the seventh outing for the Traverse City Film Fest was the biggest yet.

Other Traverse City Film Festival documentary winners included HBO hit Hot Coffee (The Documentary Everyone in America Should See Award) whilst Best Activism in a  Foreign Documentary went to BBC Storyville‘s Give Up Tomorrow. 

In the fiction category, award winners included Chris Morris’ Four Lions starring Steve Coogan (Best Screenplay in a Foreign Narrative Film) and the Academy Award nominated Incendies (Best World Narrative Film).

Nearly 130,000 people flocked to watch ‘Just Great Movies’ across the six-day Traverse City Film Festival where George Lucas gave special permission for crowd-puller Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back to be screened in the open air for the very first time in front of thousands of film fans from around the world.

The Special Jury Prize for You’ve Been Trumped comes just a month after the film won Britain’s top environmental prize for documentaries with the Green Award at the Sheffield International Documentary Festival (Sheffield Doc/Fest).  Then, the international jury lauded the film for:

“exposing one of the worst environmental crimes in recent UK history.”

(No word yet as to whether the Press & Journal or its sister paper have discovered the existence of ‘you’ve been trumped.’)

The Traverse City Film Festival is a charitable, educational, non-profit organisation committed to showing “Just Great Movies” and helping to save one of America’s few indigenous art forms – the cinema.  The festival brings films and filmmakers from around the world to northern Michigan for the annual film festival in late July. It was instrumental in renovating a shuttered historical downtown movie house, the State Theatre, which it continues to own and operate as a year-round,
community-based, mission-driven and volunteer-staffed art house movie theater.  A full list of award winners can be seen here.

You’ve Been Trumped will now receive a special London preview at the Frontline Club (12 August) and will be screening for a week at the DCA Dundee later this month (19-25 August) before going on to the Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival in Birmingham, Alabama (26-27)
August.  The film will also headline the Edindocs film festival (16th September) and a screening is being planned for the Scottish Parliament.

Jul 292011
 

A month ago Anthony Baxter and Richard Phinney attended the sold-out Aberdeen premier of their documentary ‘You’ve Been Trumped’ at Aberdeen’s Belmont Cinema.  If you don’t know, the film follows one year of (dramatic) events at the Menie Estate as Trump and his people change this part of Aberdeenshire forever.  What has Anthony been doing since those first Aberdeen screenings?  Aberdeen Voice’s Suzanne Kelly catches up with Baxter as ‘You’ve Been Trumped’ captures world-wide interest.

Anthony Baxter is in Trump’s hometown, New York City, where the documentary met great acclaim when it was screened earlier this month. A cursory web search for ‘You’ve Been Trumped’ comes up with an astounding 6 million plus results. Since those first UK showings, Baxter has been interviewed and quoted very widely; the film is being lined up for further screenings, and it is receiving the critical acclaim it deserves.

“I’m currently in New York – heading to Michigan tomorrow to Michael Moore’s festival which sounds great.  We’ve got excellent slots for the screenings”. Baxter advises.

 Michael Moore is one of the world’s greatest contemporary documentary film-makers.  Oscar-winner Moore’s successes include the documentary classic ‘Bowling for Columbine’ (a look at America’s deadly love affair with handguns) and ‘Fahrenheit 9/11.
For further info, blogs, book and film information, click here

Michael Moore chose ‘You’ve Been Trumped’ to feature at his festival this year; this selection is high praise indeed.  Moore is no stranger to controversy, and no stranger to Donald Trump.

Trump once labelled Moore with one of the worst labels a Conservative America can use: Trump called Moore ‘A Communist’. (Sources say Moore is holding up well despite this crushing slur).

Baxter is increasingly in demand, yet he and Phinney seem to be handling all of their international press, travel and booking arrangements themselves.  (By way of comparison, American CBS television flew several hundred of its staff to London to cover the Royal wedding, some coming several weeks in advance).  Baxter just keeps going forward:-

“I’ve done a guest column for TGO magazine and also an online interview with the European Documentary network which should be going online soon”.

Anthony advises that the film has undergone a small change. At one point ‘The Golf Channel’ was threatening him with legal action for using a clip of theirs (which Baxter fully credited of course).  Baxter and his legal team held fast.  As to the changes he did make:-

“Whilst here in New York I’ve done a new master of the film – we’ve basically made a couple of minor adjustments – one of which is adding the incident where David Milne is charged for a new boundary fence.   I’ve also been meeting with potential distributors and publicists as we attempt to get the ball rolling for distribution later this year.

“Also – you’ll probably have seen we’re screening the film at the Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival in Alabama which is good news.   But it’s clear we’ll need to get some further finance together to get the ball rolling on publicity”.

Funding for getting  ‘You’ve Been Trumped’ shown around the world was not raised from a far-sighted Scottish Arts board, but in part from ‘crowd funding’
See indiegogo for details here: Take-You’ve-Been-Trumped-To-Trump.
If you want to help ‘You’ve Been Trumped’ continue its ever-growing, world-wide tour, watch indiegogo and Facebook for further details and any upcoming announcements.
See: Youve-Been-Trumped-On-Facebook

Anthony is getting the film as wide a screening as possible before a probable, eventual DVD release.

There is good news for people who missed the film first-time around – here is an update on forthcoming screenings:

  • 26-31st July, Michael Moore’s Traverse City Film Festival official selection (Richard and Anthony in attendance)
  • 12th August,Preview Screening + Q&A, Frontline Club, London (Anthony in attendance)
  • 19-25th August,Screening at the DCA, Dundee (Q&A event on Friday 19 August Anthony in attendance)
  • 26-28th August, Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival, Birmingham, Alabama, USA, official selection (Anthony in attendance)
  • 11th September, 3pm, BFI, South Bank – London Premiere +Q&A (Anthony in attendance)
  • 14th September,Scottish Parliament screening, Edinburgh + Q&A (TBC)
  • 16th September,opening night headline film of the Edindocs Film Festival, Edinburgh + Q&A (Anthony in attendance)

Pencilled in but unconfirmed:

  • 30th September/1st October,Eden Court Inverness + Q&A
  • 2nd October-8th October,Filmhouse, Edinburgh
  • 13-17th October,Hamptons International Film Festival official selection, New York, USA (Richard and Anthony in attendance)
  • 27th October, Discovery Youth Film Festival, Dundee (Anthony in attendance)
  • 1 week in October, pencilled in at the Aberdeen Belmont Picturehouse but unconfirmed.

Updates will be posted in due course on Facebook (just search on ‘You’ve Been Trumped’ ) and most definitely on Aberdeen Voice.

The usually litigious Donald has been rather quiet of late.  Perhaps he will wind up being trumped  himself?  Time will tell.

Jun 302011
 

The Belmont Cinema has held ‘you’ve been trumped’ over for two more weeks due to popular demand writes Voice’s Suzanne Kelly.

Three more screenings have been scheduled over the coming weekend to cater for the sustained public interest in the film.
I attended it again last Sunday; Director Anthony Baxter was present and held another Q&A session after the film.  This session overran with many people staying behind in the bar to discuss the issues with him.

Long-term Menie resident Susan Munro was also present, and answered several questions.  Since filming, Ms Munro’s garden and car have been affected by a huge mound of sand which the construction engineers left very close to her property.

This will be the second consecutive weekend that the Belmont Picturehouse has added screenings of ‘You’ve Been Trumped’ to their schedule since it’s City premiere on June 17. Such has been the demand.

Belmont Cinema Assistant Manager Kenny says:

“We do screen quite a few documentaries, but interest for this film has been overwhelming.  We are very happy to have been able to add more screenings.”

In the current issue of Aberdeen Voice, you can read my review of Anthony Baxter’s award winning film.
See: youve-been-trumped-suzanne-kelly-reviews/

Since writing this review, major newspapers The Guardian and The Daily Mail have expressed interest in the Trump development.  They report Donald Trump has expressed concerns that ‘the world has changed’ since he bought land at Menie and has asked ‘where’s the market?’

The additional screenings will be held

Friday 1 July, 6.30pm
Saturday 2 July, 1.45pm
Sunday 3 July, 6.30pm

Anthony Baxter is on his way to the New York screening of ‘you’ve been trumped’; the funding he needed is coming from the public.  If you would like to support ‘you’ve been trumped’, then please visit:

You’ve Been Trumped’s crowd-funding campaign and trailer:
http://www.indiegogo.com/TAKE-YOUVE-BEEN-TRUMPED-TO-TRUMP

Additional information on the film can be found here:
www.youvebeentrumped.com
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Youve-Been-Trumped/187472834621346

Jun 302011
 

Documentaries on the whole can be, well boring to tell the truth.  They have to tell you what’s going on and why, and/or teach you something.  They are factual and more often than not dry.  Voice’s Suzanne Kelly watched  ‘you’ve been trumped’ which in the simplest terms tells the story of Donald Trump’s building of  ‘the world’s greatest golf course’ at the Menie Estate in Aberdeenshire.

If you thought this meant a few stubborn local people were being unreasonable, then this film will grab you by the shoulders and shake you.  If you thought what was going on at Menie was undemocratic and environmentally dubious, you will be shocked at  how very, very much worse things are than you had ever imagined.  (I had tried to keep up with developments; this documentary has opened my eyes).

Baxter opens and closes his film with cuts from the classic cult film set in Pennan, ‘Local Hero.’ His re-enactment of the phone box scene is already being hailed as iconic (I shan’t spoil it for you – go see it).

If ‘Local Hero’ had been written today, you would think it was paying homage to what’s going on at Menie.  In the cult classic ‘Local Hero’, a lone man refuses to leave his Scottish coastal property and is thus halting big business from ruining the environment with a destructive, massive building plan.

Sadly, the Menie saga will not get the happy ending ‘Local Hero’ gave us.  The dunes are wrecked, the landscape forever altered by a flotilla of bulldozers.

Of particular concern to ecologists and scientists was the fate of the moveable sand dune system –  the last one in Scotland if you are interested – which is no more.  Trump has, as he put it ‘stabilised’ it.  This unique ecosystem, once a ‘Site of Specific Interest’ (SSI) is now a giant, barren sandbox filled with diggers.

Trees were filmed as they were torn from the earth and buried – several hundred of them it seemed.  Baxter interviews a scientist, who lets us know in no uncertain terms that this is an environmental disaster (a SSI is the highest level of protection a site can be given.  The Government decided it was not as important as ‘jobs creation’).  The scenes of coastal countryside bliss early in the film are followed by earthmoving equipment destroying the ecosystems – you don’t need a degree in environmental studies to see how terrible a thing this is, you just need eyes.

The film also uses some beautiful animation sequences of animal life superimposed over the pristine landscape that used to be the home of the Menie families.  There are very poignant scenes involving many of the residents, but particularly moving are scenes of life-long resident Molly Forbes tending her garden and chickens.

She is also pivotal in Baxter’s incorporating old movie footage (pre WWII if I am not mistaken) of the area.  There are scenes of the agricultural and fishing heritage which is being swept away by both by ‘progress’ and Trump’s pursuit of what he calls ‘the world’s greatest golf course’.

Those residents being filmed retain their outward self-possession, but Baxter captures the frustration, sadness and fear which Trump brought to them with his construction tactics.

Over the months of filming you feel the anxiety and tension build.  An art event is held which adds optimism and shows local resistance.  However, the threat of compulsory purchase orders (where the Government could claim their land and force them out) lingered for a long and clearly took its toll on the residents.  So did having to go without water for over a week (a construction-related deprivation), losing a power line (snapped by a Trump earthmover), and ever-present private Trump security.

The viewer is amazed this relatively small number of residents handle it as well as they do.  The photographic documentation of these events is incontrovertible and extremely moving.  The Trump organisation derides Baxter as a ‘fraud’ and ‘failure’.

I never before found myself shouting and making comments during a documentary, but I was far from alone in doing so; the theatre echoed with shouts and indignant cries.  Baxter has grabbed his audience, and they wait for the next development eagerly and angrily.  He is not being sensationalist:  he is documenting and we are reacting.

A word on Mr Donald Trump is called for.  If Baxter’s film had been fiction, it would have been universally criticised for inventing (what is in my opinion) such an extremely pompous, deceitful, greedy, sexist megalomaniac villain.

When we first see Trump, nearly the first thing he does is try to hire some beauty competition winner (Miss Glasgow or some such thing) who had been invited to his press launch.

“She’s beautiful…. very nice…  Maybe she wants a job in marketing or something.” The Donald seems to direct at one of his staff.

Exactly how this gigantic housing development, resort and golf club got planning permission is a mystery only a few people can explain – and they are not talking.

The Aberdeenshire Council voted against the proposal when it first came up – its scale and environmental impact had all of the wildlife experts and charities (RSPB, WWF, Ramblers Association) dead set against it.  Martin Ford of the Aberdeenshire Council explained that Trump’s plans disregarded existing planning criteria.

Mr Salmond, our SNP Scottish leader, was by all accounts meeting Mr Trump for dinner and such.  Before anyone knew what had happened, the Scottish Parliament did what had never been done before:  it called the rejected application in, and gave it the green light.  Salmond is shown explaining how the ‘economic benefits’ and ‘job creation’ promised exceeded the value of our environment.  A subsequent interview with a London School of Economics seems to be the only critique performed on Trump’s figures.  Suffice it to say that the LSE expert had more than a few doubts.

Baxter uses these experts to illustrate the issues and gives us the sequence of events.  There are interviews with  the key players – including a reluctant Trump who is confronted by Baxter at the RGU press conference.  Trump was rattled.  Robert Gordon University awarded ‘The Donald’ an honorary Doctorate.  One of the most powerful scenes in the documentary is when Dr Kennedy, the first principal of RGU, returns his degree.

In a passionate speech Kennedy declares:

“Don’t trample your neighbours; don’t destroy the environment…Somebody’s got to stand up to this….”

When you see this documentary, you will see what kinds of pressures were and still are exerted on the residents and the documentary makers for standing up.  Perhaps the scene most fraught with tension is when Baxter has little control over the filming – as he is being arrested in an outrageous fashion by Grampian Police, virtually attacked, cuffed and thrown in a police car.

Whatever warranted this physical mistreatment?  There is no trace of cause in the events leading to the arrests.  Four hours later he and Phinney are released; their film is held for one week by the authorities.  Welcome to 21st Century Scotland.  We are ‘open for business’.

Coda:  Donald Trump arrived in Aberdeen last week on his partially gold-plated jet; he wants Alex Salmond and/or Sean Connery to open his resort.  On 7 July ‘you’ve been trumped’ will show in New York City:  I await audience and press reaction eagerly.

Watch this space; watch this film.

More City Screenings For ‘You’ve Been Trumped’. click here for more info

Jun 242011
 

In contrast to the local established press’s slavering over the crazy golf antics at Menie, Andrew Baxter’s film You’ve Been Trumped, premiered at The Belmont Cinema last Friday, gets behind the hype to expose the darker side of the saga. This is Sean Ashley‘s view.

Last Friday evening I was very lucky in being able to attend the Scottish premiere of You’ve Been Trumped.

Tickets had sold out very quickly and although the Belmont Cinema had laid on an extra screening the following day, I wanted to be there for the premiere.

It was indeed exciting.

The film, produced by Richard Phinney and directed by Anthony Baxter, tells the story of unprecedented environmental destruction and the effect on families by the development of Donald Trump’s golf resort at Menie.

In NE Scotland, the reality of what has been happening has often failed to be published by the local press and I wanted to see with my own eyes a truthful description of events.

The film began with a look at the family history of Molly Forbes, her son Michael and their close connection to the land and sea in this part of Scotland. This, if I were to be asked, was my favourite part of the film as it reminded me of Scotland’s heritage and identity which could easily be forgotten if it were not for old sepia pictures and film stills, and, more importantly, memories of folk like Molly.

Further on in the film I witnessed the bullying and intimidation experienced by the families living in their own homes, but surrounded by Trump’s estate. The level of contempt held by the Trump Organisation towards their peaceful living neighbours was astonishing.

Whilst watching, I felt angry and upset at the injustice the Forbes, Milne and Munro families experienced. Care and support for them from the authorities was blatantly non-existent.

I was also touched by the dignity of the residents and the suffering they have endured, often  unreported, but am very glad their voices have been allowed to be heard through this documentary.

I hope You’ve Been Trumped will be seen by many, many people.

* Stop PressAdditional screenings will be held at Belmont Picturehouse, Aberdeen:-

Friday 24 June at 6.30pm
Saturday 25 June at 1.45pm
Sunday 26 June at 6.30pm

Jun 242011
 

‘You’ve Been Trumped’ is a new documentary taking on Donald Trump’s invasion of Scotland.  Director Anthony Baxter talks to Voice’s Suzanne Kelly about movie making in Scotland, Trump, Menie’s residents and environment, the future – and getting arrested for a ‘breach of the peace’.

Anthony Baxter meets me in the Belmont Cinema Saturday afternoon; an extra day’s showing of his documentary, ‘You’ve Been Trumped’ has been added by popular demand.

Tickets for the previous night had sold out at a fantastic pace, rivalled only by the demand the Belmont experienced for the last Harry Potter movie.  Rather impressive for a documentary about building a golf course.

However, this is no ordinary golf course, no ordinary bit of coastline, and certainly no ordinary people at the story’s heart.

Although there are a large number of people wanting and needing his time before the movie starts, he invites me to sit with him for an interview, and offers me more time afterwards should I need it?

The documentary had its Scottish premier at the Belmont the night before, and residents of Menie were warmly-received guests of honour.  When the film ended last night, it received a standing ovation – something I have never seen for a documentary — with long-suffering Menie residents Molly Forbes and Michael Forbes getting applause.

The audience included Martin Ford, the Aberdeenshire Councillor who cast a deciding vote against Trump’s plans before the Scottish Government called in the plan and allowed the devastation of the Menie Estate.  This was a completely unprecedented move on the Scottish Government’s part.

Baxter greets me enthusiastically; he is eager to talk about last night, and he is filled with thanks for all of those who came, and those who supported the film’s creation, particularly the Menie residents and his producer, Richard Phinney.

I ask him how he became interested in Trump’s plans for building ‘the world’s greatest golf course.’

“My grandfather lived in Montrose, and we often went up the coast to Menie when I was young,”

“I wanted to make the film – it was a very important story and it wasn’t being told properly… it was not being reported.”

We discuss the glaring absence of newspaper coverage of last night’s event (both Northsound Radio and STV covered the film’s premier, but there was not a word in the Press & Journal or the Evening Express).

“It was the biggest documentary ticket sales demand at this cinema, and none of the local press even mentioned it,” Baxter comments.

As a local event it was newsworthy – as a documentary on a controversial Aberdeenshire issue, it was doubly so.  Elsewhere in the world, the press are less coy.  The Times and The Guardian newspapers aren’t so myopic – they have covered the documentary prominently.  In the wider world The Toronto Star, Canada’s biggest selling newspaper, declared:-

“You’ve Been Trumped is a “shattering chronicle… of American greed, hubris and stupidity.”

Baxter tells me that in Canada the audience was extremely angry after seeing the film, and couldn’t believe Donald Trump’s golf resort had been given the go-ahead in Scotland.  Today’s audience was no less angry.

“How did you finance your film?” I ask. Baxter answers by first thanking those who helped – the credits contain a fairly long list of sponsors and supporters.

He explains his frustration at the lack of Scottish arts funding:  none of our government-sponsored arts bodies has given him anything at all towards his film’s creation.  He had applied for a £10,000 grant – he was turned down.  Apparently the Scottish government funding source which turned him down concluded ‘there was not enough audience interest.’

I would love to ask this agency what it has to say now.

“I also had to re-mortgage my house.”

I asked him to repeat, and he confirms this.  It takes a particular kind of bravery to invest any money and time to pursue a creative venture in the first place – but to be willing to risk your home to make a film about one of the world’s most lawsuit-happy entrepreneurs must take nerves of steel.

I mention that ‘You’ve Been Trumped’ has just won an award.

“It’s fantastic to get the Sheffield Doc/Fest Green Award– it’s the highest environmental documentary accolade in Great Britain.” Baxter explains.

“Now I just want to get the film seen by as many people as possible.”

The judges who awarded the prize said:-

“This year’s Green Award goes to a film which exposes one of the most shocking environmental crimes in recent UK history.  We hope that this award will raise awareness and hold Donald Trump to account for his environmental and social belligerence, and expose the corruption and incompetence at the heart of the Scottish authorities which let this destruction go ahead.”

The project started a year ago – by the time I’ve seen the film, I realise what an extraordinary year it’s been for him, the Menie residents, and tragically for what was once a dynamic sand dune system and a Site of Special Scientific Interest (the highest environmental protection an area can be given – for all the good it meant in the end).

It looks as if Baxter will be successful in getting people to see his movie – he is off on 7th July to New York where the film will be shown at the IFC (the prestigious New York City home for independent films).

“I will be sending Donald Trump an invitation.” Baxter offers.

Trump has apparently derided the film as ‘amateurish… a failure’ and ‘an attempt to cash in on the Trump name.’   According to STV, the Trump organisation has branded Anthony Baxter ‘a fraud.’  All things considered, I somehow think ‘the Donald’ won’t be accepting Baxter’s invitation.

Grampian Police would seem to have slightly overstepped the mark

The Trump organisation has a habit of, shall I say, putting forth its own version of the truth.  For one thing the Trump organisation once said it would never use compulsory purchase orders to take over the homes at Menie.

This claim was proved to be untrue by Aberdeen Voice’s contributor, ‘Bennachie Blether’ , who had been sent copies of lawyer’s letters which indeed discuss compulsory purchase orders, see: Aberdeen Voice Article – Menie Masterplan

Trump has also claimed that Menie Resident Michael Forbes twice promised to sell out  to Trump. Forbes denies the claim, and for anyone who has seen this film, it is inconceivable Forbes would ever have said any such thing.   I am therefore just a little sceptical of Trump’s fraud claim.   Baxter then has other showings – for details see: youvebeentrumped – the movie

Baxter and Phinney were arrested at Menie for ‘a breach of the peace’.  This arrest is captured on film.

The events leading up to their arrest need to be seen to be believed.  Suffice it to say, the whole cinema was outraged.  Grampian Police would seem to have slightly overstepped the mark.

Baxter is asked during the Q&A – the first question as it happens – if he now plans to complain about the police or take any further action.
Baxter says that he wanted to do the job of showing what is going on at Menie, and it is now for others to look at the police.

He and Phinney were charged with a ‘Breach of the Peace’ before the charges were downgraded to written cautions at the time – which served both to prevent them having a fair day at court, and to try to intimidate them from continuing their filming.

If the intent was to stop this film, it is clear that it did the exact opposite.

The entire matter was eventually thrown out – not before DNA had been taken and they had been treated like criminals:  they did not find out about the matter being dropped from an apologetic police force, but from the media third-hand.  This use of police caution had also been used against Michael Forbes – he had removed marker flags that Trump’s people put on his land – and was cautioned not to do anything again.  The value of these flags was £13.

Baxter has suggested someone should investigate the policing of the Menie Estate.  Someone will be doing so.

I form the impression that Anthony Baxter is a man who is not going to rest on his laurels; in fact I doubt he’ll be getting much rest even if he wanted to.

People are seeking his attention; I end the interview and he gives me his contact details.  He’s leaving Aberdeen after this afternoon’s film and question & answer session.  One last question springs to my mind.

“What’s next?  Any future documentaries planned?” I ask.

“I’d like to do something on Afghanistan.  There is a children’s hospital ER I want to look at.” Baxter answers, and is soon ushered away for the film’s start.

I resolve to keep my eye on his future works, and head off to find my seat.  When I emerge a few hours later, I am impressed, shocked, and angry.  The film is beautifully crafted, and through all the trials, the residents of Menie, and other individuals who stood against the Trump machine renew my faith in people to a considerable degree.  If as Trump says Baxter is a ‘fraud’ and a ‘failure’, then I think we could do with more frauds and failures like him.  See this film.

Awards: Sheffield Green Award, Sheffield International Documentary Festival, Doc/Fest 2011
Directed By: Anthony Baxter
Written By: Anthony Baxter & Richard Phinney
Produced By: Richard Phinney
Website http://www.youvebeentrumped.com http://www.jonsi.com

For those of you who saw the film and wish to rate it for The Guardian  readers, see: http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/movie/142256

… And for those of you who have not yet had the pleasure – additional screenings will be held at Belmont Picturehouse, Aberdeen:-

Friday 24 June at 6.30pm
Saturday 25 June at 1.45pm
Sunday 26 June at

Jun 222011
 

By Fred Wilkinson, with thanks to Tripping Up Trump.

Due to “unprecedented demand”, Aberdeen’s Belmont Picturehouse have shaken up their schedule in order to host a further 3 screenings of Antony Baxter’s controversial documentary film You’ve Been Trumped.
Donald Trump has publicly expressed that Anthony Baxter is a “fraud”, and that the film is “boring”, but that does not appear to resonate with those who have actually viewed the film.

Mr Trump it would appear, despite currently on a visit to the North-east to examine the “worlds greatest golf course”, will not be available to attend the additional screenings.

However,  Mr Trump has been invited to a special US preview of the film 7 July in New York.

“If Mr Trump can’t stay in Aberdeen then we are happy to invite him to the screening in New York,” said Director Anthony Baxter.

According to Emily Richardson, Film Programmer for Picturehouse Cinemas:

“Following the unprecedented demand for tickets for the sell out Green Carpet Premiere and the follow up screening, The Belmont is delighted to be holding three further screenings of You’ve Been Trumped. We have been delighted with the amazing response to this very topical film and are very pleased to have been able to bring the film to the Aberdeen audience,”

The additional screenings will be held:-

Friday 24 June at 6.30pm
Saturday 25 June at 1.45pm
Sunday 26 June at 6.30pm

For more info, see: youvebeentrumped.com

Other Links …..

Trump film wins festival prize.

Voice’s ‘poetry mannie’ Bob Smith reviews YBT( See ‘The cafe 2’ column. )

Belmont_Picturehouse – Youve_Been Trumped

Aberdeen Voice Article – March 2011