By Suzanna KingThings havent worked out the way they were meant to.Ruth Carter, Oswestrys face of film, should have been designing clothes for a major fashion house, or, if not, working at a High Street store, coming up with designs for the 2011/12 autumn/winter collection.She studied fashion and textiles as a college student, imagining shed one day be employed in the rag trade. If she did really well, of course, shed have been flying to Paris, Milan and other fashion capitals, like New York.After college, Ruth developed her creative skills at university, where she signed up for a degree in fine art. She excelled, learning new techniques and impressing her tutors, as she sailed through her studies.At the end of her training, shed imagined shed find a job in fashion. But, truth was, her heart lay elsewhere. Ruths greatest passion in life was film, and so she decided to pursue her dream.Many people in Oswestry know Ruth as one of the faces behind the non-profit organisation Kinokulture, which provides greater access to films and experimental documentaries to locals. Now Ruth and her partners are ready to take their work to the next level by helping young people and adults to make their own.Ruth is passionate about improving opportunities to locals. She has already done similar work in Paris, where she shared her love of film by helping youngsters in the French capital to develop their own cinematographic skills. She wants to give the people of Oswestry their chance. I felt there were no provisions in Oswestry, and wanted to give the young people and adults something to learn and enjoy.She recently organised two workshops through Kinokulture: one was a two-day documentary film-making workshop where adults learned a new skill or took on film making as a hobby while the other was a workshop for young film makers. Those sessions took place in mid-August, when the Kinokulture team worked with Oswestry Youth Cafe to give young people the knowledge they needed to create their own films and experimental documentaries.The workshops werent the first that Ruth and the Kinokulture team had run. During the summer months, an introduction to video production course was made available to townsfolk. Ruth says: There were only a few spaces on the course as its easier to work with people in smaller groups when it comes to video production, but everyone enjoyed it and the feedback was brilliant.I think these opportunities are great because at the end of the workshops the young people should have learned the skills required to enable them to go away and make their own films and documentaries. Theres more to it than that, however, because they also gain the lifelong skills of working as a team and hopefully their confidence increases.High-flyers who attended the young film makers workshop and wanted to achieve their aspirations were given further opportunities. The were invited to submit their short films for screening at the Young Film Makers Screen Dreams event, at Attfield House, in Oswestry, on September 17. Ruth will be joined at the event by one of her former colleagues from Paris, Sian Walters, from the Ffilmic (CORRECT) Film Festival, who will be the special guest.Ruth continued: I want people to feel encouraged to go to the cinema and what better than seeing your own film on a big screen, not only that but having your friends and family there too and to make it an affordable experience.Among all of its film-making activities, Kinokulture is still showing films, encouraging peoples love of cinema. The industry is growing fast and its affecting small independent cinemas worldwide. With most films now becoming digital, some of the independent cinemas are struggling to keep up. Not all of them have technology that is compatible with showing digital films. The switch from reels of film to digital transmission has also burdened independent cinemas with additional costs. Inevitably, some of them have lost out on business. We are lucky enough to work closely with independent distributors such as DogWoof.The connection between Kinoculture and Dogwoof has led to the Oswestry organisation becoming an ambassador for its business partner. Dogwoof has twice let Kinokulture take part in the nationwide launches of its films, by making Countdown to Zero and Restrepo available at the same time that they were shown in major multiplex venues.Ruths love of cinema and documentary is quite clear from the way that she talks. She enthuses about the opportunity for locals to get involved in community projects and talks with equal passion about the switch from 35mm film to digital. She believes that alongside the pitfalls, there will be many new opportunities for people to enjoy great quality cinema.Ruth says: Digital may not look that different to 35mm film, but behind the scenes there will be no rattling of the projector. There are other changes: projectionists dont have as much control, they cant splice 35mm film or fix the projectors if something goes wrong. With digital, things are much more complicated. If something goes wrong, you need a technician with hands-on experience to fix things. But ultimately, people love film. Going to the cinema is supposed to be a socially engaging experience for everyone to enjoy.Ruth has come a long way from her days as a fledgling fine art student. However, her dedication to the world of the moving image is clear. And she hopes that she can encourage others to share her passion for film. Further details of workshops and Kinokulture screenings are available at www.kinokulture.org.uk