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Understanding Addiction: Steroids

Video length - 05:55
Published date - Sep 2021
Keystage(s) - 3, 4 and 5

Resource Type: Films

Meet Adam and Ali, a married couple sharing their journey of love, faith, and what it means to build a life together across religious traditions.

Adam, who is Jewish, and Ali, who is Muslim, invite us into their everyday lives as they reflect on how their relationship has shaped their understanding of both Islam and Judaism. The film explores key moments in their story, from meeting and falling in love, to navigating family, community, and faith as a couple.

Alongside these moments, we see how shared experiences, especially cooking and eating together play an important role in their relationship. Through food, Adam and Ali bring their cultures and traditions into the same space, creating something that reflects both of them.

It’s an intimate snapshot of a modern interfaith marriage, highlighting themes of love, identity, belonging, and the ways different faiths can connect, overlap, and work together in everyday life.


Adam and Ali: Our Interfaith Story

Video length - 06.25
Published date - Jun 2026
Keystage(s) - 3 and 4

As part of our ongoing “Portrait” series which brings big names from history and faith to life. In this film, we explore the story of Siddhartha Gautama—the man who became known as the Buddha, whose teachings have inspired millions of people around the world for two and half thousand years. The film follows the key moments in the Buddha’s life, from his sheltered upbringing as a prince, to the moment he left his royal life behind in search of answers about suffering and human existence, and on to his journey through meditation, self-discovery, and enlightenment beneath the Bodhi tree. It’s an animated snapshot of a life that shaped spiritual thought across the world, packed with themes of compassion, wisdom, inner peace, and the search for meaning.

 


A Portrait of The Buddha

Video length - 03.00
Published date - May 2026
Keystage(s) - 3 and 4

Come and join us for Vesak – the Buddhist festival that celebrates the birth, enlightenment, and the passing of the Buddha, observed by millions around the world. Vesak is one of the most important festivals in Buddhism, offering a time for reflection, compassion, and spiritual growth.

Here, we explore the meaningful traditions and practices associated with Vesak, with a focus on observances at the vihara (Buddhist temple). Throughout the day, devotees gather to offer flowers, candles, and incense before the Buddha’s statue – which symbolise impermanence, light, and respect. You’ll see moments of quiet meditation, hear the rhythmic sound of chanting, and learn about the teachings that encourage mindfulness and understanding, rooted in the life of Siddhartha Gautama – the Buddha, the founder of Buddhism.

Acts of generosity and kindness are also central to Vesak, as people take time to give to charity, support their community, and reflect on living a more compassionate life. The calm and reflective atmosphere of the vihara highlights the core Buddhist values of peace, mindfulness, and compassion, inviting you to pause and think about your own actions and intentions.

Vesak TrueTube Transcript

Interviewee 1: Today we are celebrating Vesak.

Interviewee 2: Vesak symbolises Buddha's birth.

Interviewee 3: Attaining enlightenment. And passing away of Buddha 2,600 years ago.

Voiceover:    Happy Vesak! Vesak is the most important festival in the Buddhist calendar, and it’s celebrated on the first full moon of May. It’s a time when Buddhists like me remember the events of the Buddha’s life - in particular his birth, his Enlightenment and his death.

Interviewee 4: The Buddha, it directly translates to the enlightened one. But Buddha was actually a person like you and me.

Voiceover:    Buddha is a title which was given to a man called Siddhartha Gautama. He was a prince who had lived a life of luxury, but he wasn't happy.

Interviewee 1: One day he decided when he went out of the palace grounds, he just saw a lot of suffering in the world, and he wanted to try and do some good.

Interviewee 4: And he followed lots of teachers, but unfortunately, none of them was able to identify the cause of suffering.

Voiceover:    The Buddha sat down in the shade of a tree and meditated until he found the answer. He was enlightened! He realised that people suffer because they want the wrong things, so the answer was to stop wanting them, and his teaching still helps us to live simpler, more centred lives. We believe that when someone dies, their atman - their real spiritual self - will be re-born in a new body, but because the Buddha was Enlightened, he attained what we call Nirvana or Nibbana instead.

Interviewee 2: In Buddhism, we learn that enlightenment means you attain nibbana.

Interviewee 5: Nibbana is when you are not born again, you free from any sort of luxury.

Interviewee 1: And nibbana is basically a state of bliss.

Voiceover:    This is our Vihara - our temple. It’s where the bhikkhus live, which is what we call the monks - men who have committed their whole lives to the Buddha’s teachings. The vihara is given a thorough spring clean before the festival begins. We all wear white clothes to symbolise purity and simplicity. The first thing we do is raise the Buddhist flag.

Interviewee 4: Buddhist flag was designed by a gentleman called Colonel Olcott, who came from America to Sri Lanka in search of Buddhism. Now this has six colours, and they are supposed to be colours that emanated from Buddha when he became enlightened.

Interviewee 6: Vesak is celebrated in almost all Buddhist countries in different ways. All the Buddhists come together and reunite in charitable causes.

Interviewee 4: We are making offerings as a sign of gratitude and veneration. Mostly we offer flowers and incense and also light the lamp.

Interviewee 2: Some people celebrate at home because they can't go to the temple, and they light lanterns and they pray.

Interviewee 5: Today I'm looking forward to singing devotional songs that kind of sum up Buddhism.

Voiceover:    The Bhikkhus lead us in meditation and give talks throughout the day.

Interviewee 5: What I like best about Vesak is spending time with friends and family in the temple.

Interviewee 4: I like the lovely sermons that are given.

Voiceover:    And it's good to get together and enjoy some food.

Interviewee 7: Temples don't indulge in meat or fish. It's all vegetarian food.

Interviewee 8: It's a day to show my gratitude to the Buddha for teaching the doctrine that he taught to the world, and for giving us the opportunity to follow the path that he took. People get together in communities and they celebrate it as a society.

Interviewee 4: We want to exhibit the goodness across the whole world.

Interviewee 1: It's a day of gratitude. It's to show respect to the teachings that we are learning. After all, we're Buddhists because we believe in the teachings of the Buddha.

Interviewee 8: What it means to me, especially today, is basically recenter myself and bring myself right back into the right path.

Interviewee 1: Sometimes life is really hard, and it's nice to come to a really peaceful environment and not be judged and just be allowed to do you however you want. So that's what Vesak means to me.

Vesak

Video length - 05.44
Published date - Apr 2026
Keystage(s) - 3 and 4

Meet Angus, a young man using social media to challenge expectations around male body image. Angus is a body positive content creator working in the fashion industry. This film, made with the BFI Film Academy, follows his personal journey through confidence, identity, and self-acceptance, as he opens up honest conversations about body positivity for boys and young men. Through candid reflection, Angus explores the pressures surrounding appearance and the impact they can have on mental health and self-worth. Intimate and direct, the film highlights why these conversations matter and how shifting them can create meaningful change.

Body Positive Transcript

Angus:    I think there's a very outdated body image standard for men. Me posting what I do and the content that I make actively challenges that standard. What you see online isn't what you see every day. There shouldn't. There shouldn't be this idealised body type that is this muscly man. A lot of what I do is fashion, and a lot of the fashion content creators that I was seeing weren't inclusive, and I thought it might be nice if I start making content around bigger people in fashion.

Producer: Would you be able to just introduce yourself?

Angus:    Um, hi, I'm Angus and I'm a body positive content creator. A lot of what I do is fashion. Um, and I was on TikTok, Instagram, um, and a lot of the fashion content creators that I was seeing weren't inclusive. And I sort of thought, hmm, it might be nice if I start making content around bigger people in fashion and plus size fashion. I just try and stay true to who I am as a person. Put that out on the internet and then try and hope that people who may feel like they're being shut down by traditional masculine views, that they can express themselves and they can have emotion and they can be vulnerable. As I was growing up, I was bullied for the way I looked. I've always been a heavy set guy.

Um, I've always been bigger. It's sort of shaped the way that I view my body now. Um, in the fact that I've sort of gone past that feeling of being bullied and feeling that I'm not accepted for the way I look to now, knowing that that's just completely not true. And just realising that when you are in the real world and not online or next sat next to your bully at school, that realistically, nobody does actually care what you look like. This is my favourite thing ever. This is a late 1960s German/French chore jacket, which sounds confusing. I try and be like really authentic and I don't try and hide anything about myself. Like I think a lot of people, if they had my body, might try and hide their body behind the clothes they wear. Um, and with the content they make, I feel like I make people feel comfortable in themselves. Um, or at least that's what I try and do. And I get a lot of lovely messages from people that have messaged me saying that my content has helped them feel more comfortable in themselves.

It's taken me quite a while to get to where I am. Um, I think even when I started off posting, there was part of me that wasn't confident. And it is difficult when you do get hate comments from people, it's difficult not to let them affect you. And there was a point where I was letting them affect my confidence. My body positivity message is mainly to men, is to make men feel comfortable in their bodies. Like not everyone has a six pack and abs and has massive biceps. Like that's just not real. Like not everyone looks like that. And it should be widely accepted that. People with bodies like mine are just the standard body for men. From an outside perspective. And what traditional masculinity is, it's someone who or a man that thinks that they can't show emotion, and they have to be this sort of permanently, mentally and physically stable rock. I think it's important to take a step back off social media and actually just get out in the real world, experience real people, talk to real people and just try and stay off social media as much as possible. I've certainly tried doing that in the last few months, and I think it just gives you a better perspective on who you are and who you can shape yourself into being.

Body Positive

Video length - 04.46
Published date - Apr 2026
Keystage(s) - 3 and 4

Join Zainab and Furvah as they explore the key similarities and differences between the Shia and Sunni branches of Islam. Through a conversational format, they discuss these denominations and their shared foundations and distinctive practices, offering insights into the historical, theological, and cultural factors that shape Muslim faith and identity.

The film highlights the differences in leadership succession after the Prophet Muhammad and the role of the Caliphs and Imams. Then it delves into such topics as the interpretation of scripture, beliefs, and core practices like daily prayer and fasting.

The film reveals both the common ground and the rich diversity within Islam, and is perfect for students and anyone interested in the history and practices of Islam.

Understanding Denominations: Islam

Zainab:    Hi, I'm a Muslim.

Furvah:    And so am I.

Zainab:    But we come from different denominations of Islam.

Furvah:    A denomination is a group or a branch within a religion.

Zainab:    I'm Sunni.

Furvah:    And I am Shia.

Zainab:    And we both believe in one God called Allah.

Furvah:    And that Muhammad, peace be upon him, was the final prophet of Allah.

Zainab:    Most of the world's Muslims are Sunni. Between 85 and 90%.

Furvah:    And 10 to 15% are Shia.

Zainab:    The name Sunni comes from the Arabic word Sunnah, which means 'clear path' because we follow Muhammad, peace be upon him's example. Like following in his footsteps.

Furvah:    We do that too. But our name comes from Shiat Ali, which means 'the Party of Ali'.

Zainab:    A party?

Furvah:    Not that kind of party, more like a political party. Because to begin with, it was politics that divided us.

Zainab:    It all started when the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, died - and the Muslims had to pick a new leader.

Furvah:    Should he be blood related to Muhammad?

Zainab:    Or should they elect the right man, whether he was blood related or not? Eventually, Muhammad's best friend Abu Bakr was elected and took the job.

Furvah:    They called him Caliph or Khalifa, which means 'deputy' or 'steward'.

Zainab:    And that means someone who looks after something for someone else, to make it clear that Abu Bakr wasn't a Prophet like Muhammad, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. Umar was next, followed by Uthman and then Ali. Sunnis call them 'The Rightly Guided Caliphs'.

Furvah:    But some people thought that Ali should have been the leader from the start, because he was Muhammad's cousin and son-in-law - so his closest male relative - and they believed, Shias still believe, that Muhammad chose him.

Zainab:    Is this about the Incident at Ghadir?

Furvah:    Yes. What do you think happened?

Zainab:    At a place called Ghadir Khumm, Muhammad, peace be upon him, told a large crowd that Ali was a great friend.

Furvah:    Yes, but we believe that Muhammad also named Ali the next leader. When Abu Bakr was elected, Muhammad's family were still in mourning, so Ali didn't get a fair chance.

Zainab:    Ali was the fourth Caliph anyway.

Furvah:    But then a man called Muawiyah decided that he wanted to be Caliph, and he used his power as the governor of Syria to raise an army against Ali.

Zainab:    When Ali was assassinated, Muawiyah began his own caliphate, which became known as the Umayyad Dynasty, and it was run like a monarchy. So when Muawiyah died, his son Yazid took over.

Furvah:    Yazid was a tyrant. That's when Ali's son Husayn decided it was time to reclaim the leadership. But before he could gather enough support, he was met by Yazid's forces at a town called Karbala in what is now Iraq. Husayn and most of his family and followers were slaughtered.

Zainab:    This sent shockwaves throughout Muslim society. Husayn, after all, was the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him's grandson.

Furvah:    Yes, but this didn't finish off the Shias, as Husayn's death inspired many to come to Karbala to join his cause. And today, most Muslims in Iraq are still Shia.

Zainab:    The split between Sunnis and Shias remained ever since.

Furvah:    Every year Shias remember Husayn's death during Muharram, the first month of the Islamic calendar. On the 10th, it's Ashura, which means 'remembrance'. And in Shia communities there'll be processions which re-enact Husayn's funeral. Different cultures grieve in different ways, and not all of it is healthy. And some people might cut or beat themselves to share in Husayn's suffering and to mourn his death. But harming your body isn't allowed in Islam, whether you're Sunni or Shia. The point is that Husayn's martyrdom, his death for the cause he believed in, is an important symbol for Shias.

Zainab:    Sunni Islam continued under the leadership of the Caliphs, although they became less and less important. There hasn't been an official Caliph since the Ottoman Empire fell in the 1920s.

Furvah:    So Shias call our leaders Imams.

Zainab:    Which is confusing because that's what we call someone who leads prayers in the mosque.

Furvah:    Same here. But the word 'imam' just means someone who leads.

Zainab:    Good point.

Furvah:    Most Shias believe there were 12 Imams, beginning with Ali and then his son Hasan, and then Husayn.

Zainab:    Who died at Karbala.

Furvah:    Then Husayn's son Zayn, and so on.

Zainab:    You said, 'most Shias'.

Furvah:    Yeah, it gets a bit complicated after that because there are lots of groups within Shia Islam. I'm a Twelver because I follow the 12 Imams, but there are also Severners or 'Ismailis' because they chose a different seventh Imam called...

Zainab:    Isma'il?

Furvah:    Yes. And we also have Fivers or 'Zaydis' because...

Zainab:    They chose a different fifth Imam called Zayd.

Furvah:    Yes, you're catching on! And Nizari Ismailis still have an Imam.

Zainab:    I think this is probably the biggest difference between Sunnis and Shias. We believe that Muhammad, peace be upon him, was the Seal of the Prophets, which means that he was the last Prophet. There were no more revelations or divine messages.

Furvah:    We believe that our Imams were amongst the Ahl al-Bayt or 'People of the House', which means that they were descended from the Prophet and were not just political leaders, but spiritual guides too. They were inspired by Allah to explain and reinterpret the Qur'an.

Zainab:    Sunnis believe in the Qur'an and the Hadith - the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, reported by his followers.

Furvah:    Same. Only we have different collections of Hadith. They depend on which follower reported the saying and whether or not we trust them. We also follow the teachings of our Imams.

Zainab:    Sunnis observed the Five Pillars of Islam.

Furvah:    So do we.

Zainab:    This includes Shahadah - saying that we believe in one God and that Prophet Muhammad was his final messenger. We also have Salah - praying five times a day; Zakah - giving to charity; Sawm - fasting; and Hajj -  taking a pilgrimage to Makkah.

Furvah:    Ah, okay. So we do all of that. But our Five Pillars are different. Yours are things you do, ours are things we believe. We have Tawhid - believing in the oneness of God; Adl - believing in God's justice; Nubuwwah - prophethood; Mi'ad - the Day of Judgment and resurrection, and Imamah - the Imams' succession from the Prophet.

Zainab:    We don't believe in Imamah, obviously, but we do believe in the rest of it. We have what we call the Six Articles of Faith, which include Tawhid and Nubuwwah. We also have Akhirah, which is the belief in the afterlife -  similar to your Adl. Then we have Malaika - the belief in the Angels; Kutub - the belief in the holy book; and Al-Qadr - the belief in predestination, that everything follows Allah's plan.

Furvah:    We believe all of that too. As well as doing the things in your Five Pillars, we do things that make up the Ten Obligatory Acts. So as well as Salah, Sawm, Zakah and Hajj, we also have Jihad, which doesn't mean holy war. It means...

Zainab:    To struggle or strive. We do that. It's the struggle to be a good Muslim, isn't it? What else?

Furvah:    Khums, which is a bit like Zakah, only the money goes to education and the descendants of Muhammad. Air-bil-Maroof, which means encouraging people to do good; Nahi Anril Munkar, which is discouraging people from doing bad; Tawalia - showing love for Allah and his people; and Tabarra, which means 'disassociation' - not getting involved with people who do bad stuff.

Zainab:    Hang on, rewind a bit. You said that you do Salah?

Furvah:    For us, that means praying five times a day. Sunrise, midday, afternoon, sunset and at night.

Zainab:    I thought you only prayed three times a day?

Furvah:    We say five prayers just like you. But we might say the midday and afternoon prayers together, and sunset and night prayers together. So three prayer times - and the prayer positions are slightly different, but only slightly.

Zainab:   But what's with the stone?

Furvah:    It's a clay tile. It's called a 'mohr' or a 'turbah', and when we pray, we touch it with our foreheads. It symbolises the earth because we believe Muhammad prayed on the ground, not a carpet.

Zainab:    And I think the adhan, the call to prayer we do at the mosque, is different too. Ours mentions Allah and Muhammad, peace be upon him.

Furvah:    And ours adds Ali, otherwise are the same. And we pay our prayer leaders, the local imams. They might be called a 'shaykh' or a 'maulana', depending on where in the world you are. But I think these days, you do that as well, don't you?

Zainab:    Yeah. Back in the day, people took turns at being the imam and leading the prayers. But it's become a full time job in most mosques. We don't think of them as clergy in the same way as you though. If I'm right, you do Sawm, fasting during Ramadan, differently too.

Furvah:    Fasting is fasting. We do it the same way as you. We don't eat between sunrise and sunset, but we do fast about half an hour longer than you every day, just to make sure the sun is definitely below the horizon before we start eating.

Zainab:    Oh, okay! Controversial question coming up. Do you have temporary marriages?

Furvah:    Not really. Not any more. But all Muslims sign a contract before they get married, right?

Zainab: A nikah!

Furvah:    Well, in some circumstances, Shias are allowed to put a time limit in their contracts. So a man and a woman could agree to be married for, let's say, a year or six months. And that would be the end of it. No divorce, no arguments.

Zainab:    Well, when you put it like that.

Furvah:    It was often misunderstood or misused. So although it isn't forbidden, I don't think it happens much these days. Society's moved forward.

Zainab:    Okay, so as far as I can see, it's mainly the history of our denominations that separates us.

Furvah:    And our beliefs about Ali and the Mahdi.

Zainab:    Yes, we believe that the Mahdi is a hero who will appear in the far future to defeat evil before the Day of Judgment. We don't know who the Mahdi will be. Some Sunnis believe it will be an ordinary person who will rise up and lead us. Others believe it will be Prophet Isa (Jesus). Who knows?

Furvah:    We believe it will be one of our Imams. Which Imam depends on which type of Shia you are. Usually it's the last Imam. He's hidden from us until his time comes. For Twelvers like me, it'll be the 12th Imam. His name is Muhammad al-Mahdi.

Zainab:    Okay, but on the whole, the teachings don't seem massively different.

Furvah:    Yeah. I think most of our beliefs, and most things we do are the same.

Zainab & Furvah: What do you think?

Understanding Denominations: Islam

Video length - 09.13
Published date - Feb 2026
Keystage(s) - 3 and 4
Downloadable resources

Every year, people across the UK switch on the fairy lights, wrap up presents, and gather with friends and family — filling living rooms, high streets, and school halls with the familiar sights and sounds of the festive season. But for all the mince pies eaten and Christmas jumpers worn, how much do we really know about where Christmas comes from, how its traditions began, and why we celebrate it the way we do today?

To find out, we head onto the streets and ask people of all ages and backgrounds what they think about the origins, rituals, and deeper meaning behind this time of year. From long-standing customs to modern-day habits, from religious reflections to festive fun, their answers reveal a whole range of ideas about what Christmas truly represents.

Christmas Transcript

S1           Happy Christmas. Christmas is a Christian festival that celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. You probably know the story how Mary and Joseph went to Bethlehem but couldn't find anywhere to stay, so they ended up in a stable where Jesus was born and laid in a manger. They were visited by shepherds and wise men from the east, who brought presents of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And giving presents is something we still do today. But Christmas isn't just for Christians. It happens just after the winter solstice, when the nights are at their longest, and it's always been a time for families to gather together for warmth, to enjoy good food, and to hope for the return of light and life to the world.

S2           Christmas is like a celebration of love and warmth, you know? It's a time where even when it's cold, you still feel a lot of warmth from those closest to you.

S3           Christmas isn't just the one day. As such, it's a period over sort of across December, up leading up to Christmas Day, where you have decorations and a tree that you place presents under for your loved ones, and the actual day is then marked by the unwrapping of the presents and the sharing of gifts and love. And then you kind of finish it off, I guess, with eating a nice meal together.

S4           It's a time that you're kind, jolly, I'd say even.

S5           I would say it's the most magical time of the year. It's very festive and it's a time when you just feel belonging.

S6           I think it's a time where people reflect on the people who need help the most. And I think it's a time where people really need support and help, the sense of belonging as well, because it's when families come together. It's when people kind of have this sense of catching up with the people that mean the most to them at that time.

S2           It's obviously a time of celebration. I'm a Christian. I also feel like it's a time to really connect with your family. You know, obviously, because the day that Jesus was born, I believe that, you know, Christmas is all about togetherness. Looking after others, especially those that are less fortunate, you know, giving back to charity, making sure that we're all looking out for each other in this time of need.

S7           I think it means like a hell of a lot of time, like family time when everyone comes together. I think it's a lot of connection for everyone to get together.

S8           Spending time with friends and family, literally. That's like the main thing.

S5           Christmas to me is all about family. I feel like we're always busy going to school, going to work. It's the only time of year that we can spend with our family. So that's what's sentimental to me.

S4           I believe it was the birth of Jesus Christ. So that's still the original meaning for me. And, uh, people just think it's Santa Clause riding around on the sleigh, bringing them presents.

S9           The best Christmas present. When I was with my family.

S2           We tried to assemble the tree together. we like to delegate certain parts of building the tree to each other. Just so it's like us as a family. We're all building the tree, decorating the house, getting the house and the decorations ready for Christmas.

S7           We all just get together and just have a big wild bash and just enjoy it. Get the mistletoe out.

S3           We do unwrapping of presents in the morning. We will play Christmas music while we're doing it.

S4           Yeah, we have a Christmas dinner. Like a turkey or a family gathering. We'd go out and see my grandparents and just all spend the time together.

S5           We all get together and we all bring a dish and we all just celebrate at one of our houses.

S8           We do like, have a nice dinner. I'm not Christian. I don't celebrate Christmas religiously, but we still keep the warm tradition going.

S6           I grew up a Catholic in Ireland, so I think it is always seen as traditionally a religious event. Even if you don't go to church regularly.

S2           It's quite interlinked. So I'm obviously constantly reminded that Christmas is a joyous time. I'm able to give thanks that, you know, I've seen another year. I'm able to give rather than receive. And that's me trying to be Christ like and give back the same way that Jesus did as well.

S7           No, I believe everyone should just stick together. Don't believe in anything like that. No, I think everyone should stick together. The love is the love and that's that.

S8           As part of my religion, I do a charity. So we go around for around December. Every Saturday weekend we do, um, soup kitchen. I like Christmas very much. I have nothing against it. It's like it's probably the favourite times of year for me.

S6           If I could give a gift to anyone at Christmas, it would be peace of mind and a self, a belonging for everyone.

S7           My love, my love and my heart and my happiness.

S8           I'd say especially right now. Peace. Definitely. Like everyone needs a bit of peace. Everyone needs to be a bit more calm now.

S2           The world is missing a lot of love, a lot of kindness right now. So I think it's imperative that we just love each other to the greatest extent, no matter what.

S5           To the world I would give love. There's some people who just don't have a special Christmas, so I would give love to everybody.

Christmas

Video length - 05.47
Published date - Dec 2025
Keystage(s) - 3 and 4

Every year, people across the UK dress up, carve pumpkins, and head out for a night of tricks and treats — but how much do we really know about where it all began? In Halloween, we take to the streets of Dartford to find out what locals think about the origins of this spooky celebration. Blending street interviews with a look back at the ancient roots of the festival, the film explores how centuries of tradition, superstition, and pop culture have shaped the way we celebrate today. Honest, funny, and thought-provoking, Halloween uncovers the real story behind the costumes, the candy, and the fear-filled fun.

Halloween Transcript

Narrator: Bwahahahahaha! (Evil Laugh)

As the clocks go back and darkness descends, it's time for the ghosts and ghouls to come out to play. It's Halloween. But how would you explain what Halloween is?

Speaker 1:      I mean, I guess it's like explaining it is a bit strange to somebody who's never had it. Like one day where everyone just dresses up as someone, anyone really nowadays. But someone's scary usually.

Speaker 2:      It's a deeper thought of like, uh, things like ghosts and spirituality and things beyond the grave.

Speaker 3:      It's time to to be free. Be expressive. Stuff your face full of candy sweet treats while you're at it as well.

Speaker 4:      It is more a day event where you're marking the All Hallows Eve. It's kind of a day and an evening for spooky things. Scary stuff. Letting your weirdness out, I guess.

Speaker 5:      People come to your door in funny costumes and try to scare you, but it's trick or treat so you can trick them back. You don't have to give them your sweets.

Speaker 6:      Everyone's in their own different costumes. Everyone's using their own creativity for that.

Speaker 7:      Be as spooky and as scary as possible. This is the time for you to come right out of your shell.

Narrator:  Halloween is short for All Hallows Eve because it takes place on the 31st of October, the night before All Hallows Day. All Hallows Day or All Saints Day is when the Catholic Church remembers all the saints and martyrs who have died. But the roots of Halloween probably go back thousands of years to the Celtic festival of Samhain, which marked the end of the harvest and the beginning of winter. People believed that the boundary between the world of the living and the world of the dead was at its thinnest at this time, and that the souls of the dead roamed the earth. So the people built bonfires and lit lanterns to scare off evil spirits, left food on their doorsteps to keep the demons happy, or even dressed up in disguises to avoid being recognised by the ghosts and cursed. Some of these traditions survived. After Christianity arrived in Britain. On All Souls Day, children would dress up in costumes and go from door to door begging for money or food. In return, they would pray for the dead relatives of the family, or sing a song or recite a poem. In the USA, this developed into trick or treat, and we also have the Americans to thank for the pumpkin jack o lanterns. In Britain, we used hollowed out turnips or swedes with carved faces lit from inside by a candle. But has the connection to Christianity been lost?

Speaker 2:      Yeah, I think it does, in the sense that there's always been the thing about, like, ghosts and witchcraft and all that associated with, I suppose, before Catholic times. In the pagan history of Ireland, it would seem like going against the ethos of of Catholicism.

Speaker 3:      Holistically it doesn't make much of a difference. But there are some aspects of Halloween that I don't really associate myself with, especially with the horror side. For example, like, there are a lot of movies that kind of like feed into devil rituals. You know, demons and stuff like that.

Speaker 8:      It depends how religion is to be fair, because like, not really in Liverpool. I come from there. So Everyone sticks together as a big community. We all just have a big mash up of Halloween. We all just get Rah! Scary together.

Speaker 9:      Yes, we don't celebrate it because it's more like worshipping the devil, because a lot of things that scare you, like when you're looking at Halloween, it's always about zombies and stuff from the dead. So we feel like we're bringing the dead alive. And so it's like, no, we shouldn't do that. We call it a pagan holiday.

Speaker 10:    Best costume, I think Dracula, definitely. When you can do it well, it looks nice.

Speaker 1:      They were dressed up as Darth Vader, but like, that was wicked. But the way he was doing it, he had a balcony and he kept on doing that laps around it and you could hear the breathing. And I thought that was cool.

Speaker 11:    It was an inflatable dinosaur. Came to my door one day. That was quite funny.

Speaker 12:    I always love a classical witch costume. I think there's just so much stuff you can do with that. Being a witch. Yeah.

Speaker 3:      My favourite thing. I personally don't celebrate it, but I know sometimes my siblings like dressing up. So again, just my little brother, you know, running up to me, showing me what costume he's got this year. Just allowing them to have that freedom to just experience the holiday himself, dress up with other kids, you know, go trick or treating because you only get to be a kid once.

Speaker 1:      It's nice to see what everyone's like decorated their houses as, everyone's different views on it. Like people go all out like proper big decorations, like Star Wars, for example. And then some people go all scary.

Speaker 2:      I would just say, uh, eating loads of chocolate. The different types of chocolate.

Speaker 4:      I quite enjoy when people do their houses up or when you know, you get trick or treaters knocking on the door.

Speaker 3:      Definitely the the sweets and the candy.

Speaker 9:      Socially, it's probably the best days of the year because everyone comes out, everyone's walking around the streets, everyone's very happy. So it's very nice to be outside then.

Narrator:  Halloween comes at a time when it's getting colder, darker, and in the past, people would have gathered round the fire for warmth and told each other ghost stories. Today it's an excuse to dress up and have a party, but it's still a way of keeping the terrors of the night at bay.

Narrator:  Bwahahahahaha! (Evil Laugh)

Halloween

Video length - 05.48
Published date - Oct 2025
Keystage(s) - 3 and 4

Meet Kaia, activism isn’t just something she does — it’s a part of who she is. Growing up, she saw inequality in everyday life: in the classroom, in the streets, and in the way people’s voices were silenced. But instead of turning away, she decided to speak up.

Her journey into activism started with small steps — attending local marches, sharing posts online, and joining community groups. Over time, those steps became a movement of her own. Through protests, campaigns, and honest conversations, Kaia found the power of her voice — and the strength of the people standing beside her.

In this film, we hear Kaia’s story in her own words. She talks about the moment she realised silence wasn’t an option, the challenges she’s faced as a young Black woman, and the hope that keeps her going.

An Activist Tale Transcript

Kaia:       My name is Kaia. I'm a racial justice activist, and I'm passionate around inviting people to be a part of the discussion to change the world. I would say that activism found me at a time of which I couldn't put into words what I was doing. I just started to question the education system and wanted to find out why the gaps were there, especially around minoritised communities.

And from seeing those gaps, I naturally started to learn about myself and my history and my lineage, and wanted to invite others to be a part of that journey. So I started to create infographics, which basically is informative posts which are short bite size information to share in a digital realm. Due to the death of George Floyd during 2020, it really platformed the work that I was doing. And naturally from that point on, I really was passionate around sharing not just the trauma and the realities of people's lived experiences, but also the joy of which we can embody, which is a fundamental part of activism. I found it important to share what I was learning, because it's something of which the education system won't tell you.

Organising a Black Lives Matter protest in Brighton comes with conflict. Because yes, it is you being framed as somebody who is organising and doing great things and a champion for the community, and they're here to bring change, which is especialy what I'm trying to do. But with that came with the realities and the epiphany of sitting with what I would be dealing with in terms of the legal system, what it meant in terms of my relationship with the police and how they would see me and perceive me, but also the necessity of showing up and doing it regardless. Because who will bring change otherwise.

A year and a half later, marching through the streets in Brighton, it's a trend that's no longer socially convenient because it feels too uncomfortable. And that's what we can call performative allyship. Performative activism is an activism that anyone can fall into. It often is an emotionally driven response, so it is often short term. It is often affected by what you see in that moment. And rather than it being a sustained action, it actually is a that's so shocking. Let me do something now. But when we think about maybe a week later, you've forgotten about it. When we think of grassroots activism, it is often the most strongest forms of driving social change, as long as you make it a sustainable effort and an ongoing, consistent journey. And it may not be in my lifetime. It may not be the lifetime of which generations are to come. It may be in distant futures, but I know that I've done my part in driving that social change, just like my ancestors have done.

What empowers me to keep going is, I think, sitting with the weight of it all. It is a challenging thing to sit with. There's so much more I still need to learn. A big humbling thing around allyship is that it's a continuous learning journey and also understanding. It's about the joy and the more of which I do it, the closer we are to revolution. The closer that we are to social change, the closer we are to a world of which we all can coexist in. Black girl we may never meet. But I hope you know that you have a family. By blood and through melanin. A collection of black souls present and gone. Knighting you in gold, but proud nonetheless. No matter what society reflects, look in the mirror and digest? Does the vision of yourself reject the power of colonialists and supremacists? Because black girl, you are a queen and made so stunningly black girl past, black girl present and black girl forever? You are a sacred shadow, one that persists through light and flows through darkness.

An Activist’s Tale

Video length - 05.00
Published date - Oct 2025
Keystage(s) - 3 and 4

Welcome to the Jewish festival of Sukkot, which is celebrated in the autumn soon after Yom Kippur. Lasting for a whole week, Sukkot is sometimes called the Feast of Booths, and it’s all about remembering the time when the Israelites lived in tents in the desert after escaping from slavery in Egypt. To mark the festival, Jewish families build a sukkah, a temporary hut, often decorated with fruits, vegetables and leaves. They eat their meals inside it, and in some traditions even sleep there. We explore the use of the “four species” the etrog (a citrus fruit), the lulav (palm branch), myrtle and willow and how they are shaken together during prayers. Sukkot is both a harvest festival and a spiritual reminder to be thankful for food, shelter, freedom, and the importance of welcoming others into your home!

Sukkot is, I think, the happiest festival of the Jewish year.

It's a harvest festival. So at this time we will be praying for rain, which we get most days anyway, so we probably won't have to pray that hard for that, I wouldn't have thought.

We thank Hashem or God for everything that Hashem has given us.

So we celebrate Sukkot by building a sukkah, which we have behind me.

Sukkot is the celebration of the Jews escaping from Egypt and wandering in the desert for 40 years. They have to have somewhere to live. So they built these booths and that is what we are celebrating.

It is a hut that we build with wood, metal poles. You can make edible Sukkah's. It symbolises the houses that our ancestors, the Israelites, built in the middle of the desert.

Sukkot is when we build a sukkah and make and eat in it, and it lasts for seven days.

However, outside of Israel, many communities make it last for eight days. This is to do with being absolutely sure of the starting timing by seeing the full moon. It's the same time in the Hebrew month. It's always around September. October. But why do we do Sukkot in the first place? Well, there's a number of reasons. It's a harvest festival, so the harvest would have come in and you need to celebrate. So when you see our sukkah, you'll see we always have fruit and vegetables hanging up in it. It's also a festival where we remember the journey of the children of Israel from Egypt to Israel long, long, long time ago, recorded in our Bible, in our Torah. And it says there that the Israelites had to live in temporary structures, which they called Sukkot. So when we build a sukkah, it's a little bit like having that experience ourselves. And there's another reason, which is if you're a farmer or if you're just somebody growing food, you need rain. And if you haven't got rain, it's not going to grow. So this festival is also a festival where we begin to pray for rain. So our community comes together and we create a sukkah, which is a temporary structure. It can't be a permanent building, and it's got to be made, if we can, out of natural materials. And what we'll tend to do is take bits and bobs out of our garden and use them to make the sukkah look beautiful.

They would provide shade during the day and shelter during the night, and obviously were not designed to be this far north because they're not quite rain proof. One of the great joys of Sukkot is getting to decorate our sukkah. It's a little bit like my Christmas tree. I have a box of decorations that I bring out every year. Memories come out of the box, things the kids have made, and it's really special. We also celebrate by inviting lots of guests into our sukkah, to celebrate in the festival, to enjoy hospitality and good food, and to keep each other warm.

Many people will sleep in the sukkah and, you know, literally barely walk out the Sukkah unless they're going to work. This is important because, you know, it is a celebration. Yes, we're praying for rain because it's harvest. I've had many meals in the sukkah and got absolutely drenched.

And we also have the four species which the Torah tells us to bring together and shake. They are the etrog, which is a giant citrus fruit. The lulav, which is the palm. hadass, which is myrtle and willow. Some people say that the citron, the etrog, represents our hearts. The palm represents our spine, which should be tall and proud. The hadass. The myrtle represents eyes because the leaves are eye shaped, and that we should look out on the world and see goodness before us. And the willow is the shape of our lips, so it represents our lips that we should only speak goodness in the world. And of course, with the citron being our heart, that it should we should have a good heart in the world as we go into this new year.

The etrog is really important because it's for someone who does good deeds and also knows about Torah, which is the Old Testament. If you like the Jewish Bible, I have a terrible sense of smell, but I'm told that it's got a wonderful sweet fragrance.

We wave them in six directions. We say a Baruch, which is a prayer. And then we wave them forwards, to the right, behind, to the left, up and down. We shake them in those different directions so that it encompasses the whole world, and that we are praying for rain.

On Sukkot we come to synagogue. We'll do that on Sukkot evening, and we'll do that on Sukkot morning. We'll do that for one day. In some synagogues. They'll do that for two days, and it'll be a beautiful service, a lot of celebration. Everybody gets the chance to shake the lulav. As we say, the Psalms called the Hallel in the Bible, these are Psalms 113 to 118, very specific set of psalms. And we know that Jews have been singing those psalms on Sukkot for 2000 years, maybe 3000 years. It's a very celebratory service, and it finishes by going out into the sukkah for what we call kiddush, for a lovely, special meal that we have together out in the sukkah.

I think I have two favourite things about Sukkot. The first is the smell of the etrog, which is incredibly fragrant. If I could bottle it, I would spray it all over myself. And my second favourite thing is being able to decorate our sukkah with memories and joys that we've packed away each year and bring out again.

My favourite part of Sukkot is when you go into the sukkah and eat food.

My favourite part is eating all the tasty food.

I like most about Sukkot decorating the sukkah because it's a really fun task, and I do it with my family and it always ends up with a really pretty outcome, which is what I love the most.

And then all the way through the festival of Sukkot, we'll continue waving the lulav. Often we'll have tea parties in the sukkah. Often schools come to visit our sukkah, and the sukkah will then be taken down. And that's it for the year.

Sukkot

Video length - 06.36
Published date - Oct 2025
Keystage(s) - 3 and 4

In this film, we explore Sikh perspectives on climate change through the lens of religious teachings and ethics. Sikhism teaches that the Earth is sacred, a divine creation of Waheguru, and must be treated with reverence and care. The principle of ‘Sarbat da Bhala’—working for the well-being of all—extends to protecting the environment and all forms of life. The Sikh faith emphasises humility, selfless service (seva), and living in harmony with nature as core spiritual values.

Sikh commitment to sustainability is deeply rooted in practices like communal kitchens (langar), which promote plant-based diets and reduce waste, and the use of renewable energy in gurdwaras around the world. Through these teachings and practices, the Sikh tradition calls for urgent and compassionate action to address climate change, highlighting both personal responsibility and collective effort to safeguard the Earth for future generations.

By linking spiritual values with environmental activism, Climate Change: Sikhism shows how faith can inspire a more just, green, and sustainable future for all.

Climate Change: Sikhism

Prubhjyot: My name is Prubhjyot Singh and I am a co-founder of Eco-Sikh UK. Eco-Sikh UK are here to inspire the youth of the Sikhs here in the UK to come out and look after their environment and realise that we need to change ourselves, change our lifestyles to make a change for the environment and look after our well-being and our future generations well-being. Sikhs come from an area in India called Punjab, which is in the north west bordering Pakistan. A lot of Sikhs back in the days were farmers who would grow their own food and feed their families and live sustainably. Land of Punjab is very rich in agricultural land in terms of farming. Making our own food, growing our own food and feeding our families. Traditionally, we would pass down the knowledge of good farming and living sustainably and being stewards, good stewards of the land, down generation by generation. A lot of these values have now been lost when our families have moved into the Western world. As Sikhs, we believe in Guru Granth Sahib ji and Guru Granth Sahib Ji.

Whereas most people will see it as a book where it has all of our messages written within it, we as Sikhs don't describe it as a book. Guru Granth Sahib Ji for us is a living guru which has all the knowledge contained within it. The Guru Granth Sahib Ji actually begins not with a word but with a number, and the number is one, and the number one symbolises oneness of everything. As Sikhs, we believe there is there is one God. But however, that one actually has a deeper meaning to it, which we believe it to be is there is nothing but God. So if you see that as everything is created by that oneness, we are part of that oneness. As human beings, as the animals that are out there, the environment, the trees, the water, this planet, the whole universe is part of that oneness. There's a line in Guru Granth Sahib Ji which says Pavan guru pani pita Mata tata mehat, which basically translates to that pavan. The air is our guru, the water is our father and the planet Earth. The mother is our Mata. So we need to look after the three elements.

We need to look after the Mother Earth for it to provide us with a living environment, a fresh air environment where we can go and have fresh water. We need to be able to live in balance, in sustainable balance within the creation and the environment around us. When it comes to looking after the environment, it's important for us to have a sustainable view. We need to be able to live within our means. We need to be able to look after the environment that we live in. So rather than destroying the trees or cutting them down or building on agricultural land, we need to have a balance where we're provided with the elements that we require. We require fresh air, we require water, we need all these elements to survive. And one of the biggest facts we need to remember is that Mother Earth will thrive without human beings. Whereas human beings cannot live without the natural environment and the fresh air and the oxygen that the environment provides us.

So two really important concepts in Sikhism is a seva. And sever is all about selfless giving. You might have seen Sikhs go out there and feed the poor. You might have seen Sikhs donate a lot of money to a good cause. However, we're not very good at when it comes to the environmental things. And now I think that's where sarbat da bhala is very important. So sarbat da bhala basically means. Good for all. While feeding the poor is feeding the poor. And obviously you're providing food and you're providing money for good causes. But when it comes to the environment, by planting a tree that will give oxygen to anyone that walks past that tree, and it brings that sarbat da bhala concept into a whole new vision. As eco Sikhs have been planting trees alongside Canal and River trust, we've been part of the longest orchard in the world. We've helped clean up canals, we've helped pick up litter. We've helped communities live in a better environment. Eco-Sikh is not just an organisation in UK, it's a worldwide organisation and one of our biggest teams is currently in India working on a project called Guru Nanak Dev Ji Sacred Forest. This was to celebrate Guru Nanak's 550th birthday. The concept of this project is to bring back biodiversity back into the areas where we had lost it over the last 40 to 50 years. For every tree we plant, it acts like a home or a habitat for insects, birds and animals. It's great to bring that wildlife back to the local community there. It also helps in carbon capture and bring down the pollution within those areas. So in 2019, it was Guru Nanak Dev Ji's 550th birth anniversary. This is a really important celebration for the Sikh's all around the world. While planting the 550 trees involved, we were approached by the Holy Trinity Church vicar and he wanted to celebrate Guru Nanak Dev Ji's 550th alongside the Sikh community. This was a great idea. The whole community got together, and we decided that the 550th tree would be planted in the courtyard of the Holy Trinity Church.

 At this event, we had various different faiths, including the Sikhs, the Hindus, Muslims, Christians, the Jews and all the local community. This event really encompassed the message that Sikhi really brings out and Guru Nanak's message of oneness, that everything is one. The whole universe is created in that one's form. There is nothing but God. God is in all. And this event really showed that if the communities can get together and work together, we can really make a positive change in saving our environment. While a lot of the skills that we required in Punjab are not required here in the Western world, here at Ecosikh, we want to make sure that we're still keeping the values of being good stewards and sustainability, and we're passing them down to our younger generations. We can do that by reducing our plastic usage within our houses, eating local food rather than getting food from across the world, eating seasonal food, maybe reducing our water usage, maybe walking to the local supermarket. There is so much you can do at home. Start at home and then take it to the local communities. Take it to your local groups. Take it to the local gurdwaras. It's important for us all to push together and make a positive impact for the environment. Eco-Sikh hold regular talks with gurdwaras our place of worship, where we talk about how to make Gurdwaras environmentally friendly. There's many ways of doing this. This could be from looking at solar panels, using electric usage, reducing our water usage, or how we recycle our food waste from our langar, which is our community kitchen. There's so many ways of getting the community involved in helping out with all of this, but the most important part is it's not just the Sikhs, it's all the communities together. Whether you're a muslim, whether you're a Hindu, whether you're Sikh, Christian, it doesn't matter who you are. It's going to take not just one community. It will take all the communities to work together. It will take all the religions to work together. It will take the whole planet to work together. It's about everyone saving the environment for the future generations.

Climate Change: Sikhism

Video length - 07.47
Published date - Sep 2025
Keystage(s) - 3 and 4
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