Kate Blewett 2808400 206965805 2008-04-20T21:31:31Z 86.156.172.239 /* Life */changed us army general to british army general '''Kate Blewett''' is a [[Documentary film|documentary]] [[Film director|film-maker]] in the [[United Kingdom]]. She is best known for her documentaries on [[human rights abuse]]s, such as ''The Dying Rooms''. == Life == Kate Blewett grew up in [[Hong Kong]], [[Malaysia]] and [[Thailand]] and enjoyed a prosperous family life. Her father was a British army [[General]] and a doctor. As a child she wanted to know why people had the lives they did and why they suffered. As a teenager she wanted to make documentaries. She has a first class degree from The [[University of Kent]] in ''Radio, Film and Television with Educational Broadcasting''. Kate later returned to Hong Kong and specialized in [[Asia]]n matters. She met her husband in Hong Kong and had her first child there. She returned to the UK after the [[Transfer of the sovereignty of Hong Kong|Chinese takeover]] in [[1997]], but was soon working on ''[[The Dying Rooms (1995 film)|The Dying Rooms]]''. == Work == Kate's first major job in filming was tourist promotion in remote areas of [[Indonesia]]. She has filmed in [[Australia]], [[China]], [[Hong Kong]], [[Japan]], [[Korea]], [[Macau]], [[Malaysia]], [[Micronesia]], the [[Philippines]], [[Singapore]], [[Thailand]] and [[Taiwan]]. She has filmed a wide variety of subjects: art and education, businesses, crimes, cultures, corruption and death, the people, the politics, the religions, the [[stock exchange]]s, flotations, violence and wildlife. She worked for two years developing ''[[The Dying Rooms (1995 film)|The Dying Rooms]]'', a documentary about orphanages in [[Communism|communist]] [[People's Republic of China|China]]. The documentary was made with [[Brian Woods]] and [[Peter Woolrich]]. All three pretended to work in the orphanages. Kate found evidence that very young children were deliberately neglected and allowed to die in agonizing ways. She became so distressed that she wanted to leave China, but she nevertheless continued the investigation. When the documentary was completed, she found the suffering extremely difficult to handle. ''The Dying Rooms'' was televised in 26 nations and prompted an enormous outcry. She is trustee of [http://www.cocoa.org.uk/ Care of China's Orphaned and Abandoned], a charitable organization which was established after the documentary was screened. Kate Blewett has also worked with Brian Woods to expose forced labour in cocoa production.{{Fact|date=February 2008}} :''See [[Chocolate and slavery]].'' Kate Blewett is author of the documentary "Bulgaria's Abandoned Children" about a special care home for children. The film was criticised in Bulgaria for severe errors in translation, suggesting a biased attitude [http://sofiaecho.com/article/mogilino-lost-in-translation/id_28112/catid_5]. == External links == * [http://truevisiontv.com/kate.html Kate Blewett - The Blonde One] - biography from True Vision website. * [http://truevisiontv.com/drm.html 'Why I can't bear to hear a child crying'] - Daily Mail article, January 8, 1996, reproduced at truevisiontv.com * [http://www.cocoa.org.uk/ Care of China's Orphaned and Abandoned] - cocoa.org.uk * [http://sofiaecho.com/article/mogilino-lost-in-translation/id_28112/catid_5 Mogilino, lost in translation] - [[The_Sofia_Echo | The Sofia Echo]], March 14, 2008 - article describes translation errors in Bulgaria's Abandoned Children {{DEFAULTSORT:Blewett, Kate}} [[Category:American television journalists]] [[Category:Investigative journalists]] [[Category:Alumni of the University of Kent]] [[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]] [[Category:Living people]]