In a brand new series of 15 short films, the multi award-winning documentary project 1000 Londoners discovers the lives of 4 generations of Londoners with Caribbean heritage.
Each of the films portrays the experiences of a single Londoner, including:
– Dame Jocelyn Barrow, knighted for her achievements in race-relations, who recalls persuading the shop owners in Oxford Street to employ Blackwomen on the shop floor;
– Teacher Sara Burke who led the 2018 protest about the treatment of the Windrush Generation;
– Ground-breaking BBC journalist Alex Pascall who reminisces aboutinterviews with Bob Marley, Mohammed Ali; and many more.Alongside the short documentaries, you will see new edits of rarely-seen Super 8 footage from Brixton during the 1960s to 1980s, from former pentecostal Minister Clovis Salmon aka ‘Sam The Wheels’ who came to London from Jamaica in the 1950s; and of BFI archive from Notting Hill Carnival.
‘Windrush Generations’ has been curated by 1000 Londoners Creative Director Rachel Wang, whose mother moved to London from Jamaica during the Windrush era. Rachel will host a panel discussion on the Legacy of the Windrush Generations with some of the Londoners featured in the films after each screening.
‘Windrush Generations’ is the 14th 1000 Londoners Movie Night. Previous movie nights have looked at themes as varied as food in London, women and London’s dog owners.
Tickets for ‘Windrush Generations’ at the National Portrait Gallery Friday 16 November 7pm and the Barbican Saturday 17 November 3pm (EFG London Jazz Festival) are now available online (click the links). ‘Windrush Generations’ will be at the Curzon Soho Wednesday 5 December 6.45pm and at the Ritzy Cinema Thursday 6 December 8.30pm (tickets available closer to the date).
Do let us know if you would like to attend a screening. Journalists will be put on the guest list.
We look forward to meeting you and celebrating London!
All the best,
About 1000 Londoners
Chocolate Films’ flagship project 1000 Londoners is the most in-depth and expansive documentary series ever produced about the city.
Each week, at 1000londoners.com, viewers are able to watch a three-minute film about a new Londoner. The range of stories is as diverse as the city itself. The series includes stories such as Leni whose flat burned down in London’s 2011 riots, D avid who captains the Woolwich Ferry, political mural artist Brian Barnes O BE, transgender magician Victoria and Samson, an ex-gang member now born again Christian.
1000 Londoners is produced by South London based film production company and social enterprise, Chocolate Films. The filmmakers from Chocolate Films both produce the films and provide opportunities to young people and community groups to make their own short documentaries, which contribute to the 1000 films.
About Chocolate Films
Chocolate Films is a video production company and social enterprise with offices in London and Glasgow. Set up over 15 years ago by directors Mark Currie and Rachel Wang, Chocolate Films has a team of 26 providing full production services to charities, museums, galleries and heritage organisations, as well as creating cinema documentaries. We are passionate about telling human stories and we endeavour to make films that can actively assist people to change the world for the better, either through direct campaigning or awareness-raising.
Engaging with over 5000 young people per year our learning and outreach programmes use digital media in innovative ways, inspiring young people to voice their opinions and reach their full potential. All of our workshops are structured appropriately to create a supportive working environment to enable the young people to reach their full potential.
About Film Hub London
Led by Film London, Film Hub London aims to ensure audiences across the capital can discover film in all its diversity. With a broad and diverse membership of exhibitors and part of the nationwide BFI Film Audience Network (FAN), the Hub encourages small-scale exhibitors to take more risks and large-scale exhibitors to expand their scope. Working to boost audiences and expand the film culture offer in Greater London, the Hub’s focus is outside the city centre and offers funding, training, screening programmes and audience research.
Film London is the capital’s screen industries agency, connecting ideas, talent and finance to develop a pioneering creative culture in the city that delivers success in film, television, animation, games and beyond. The agency works to sustain, promote and develop London as a global content production hub, support the development of the city’s new and emerging filmmaking talent and invest in a diverse and rich film culture. Funded by the Mayor of London and the National Lottery through the BFI, it also receive support from Arts Council England and Creative Skillset. www.filmlondon.org.uk/filmhub
About the BFI Film Audience Network
The BFI Film Audience Network (FAN) is a ground-breaking initiative that gives audiences across the UK the opportunity to see a diverse range of films in a cinema setting. For filmmakers, getting films onto cinema screens is a highly competitive business, particularly for specialised films which includes archive, documentary, independent and foreign language films. The BFI FAN aims to change this.
With £8.7 million of Lottery funding over four years (2013-2017) BFI has set up partnerships with nine lead organisations (Film Hubs) to work full-time with cinema exhibitors, film festivals, educators, film societies, community venues, film archives and other organisations in their regions or nations to boost audiences for film across the UK.
The Film Hubs, which drive audience engagement locally, work together with the BFI at a UK-wide level to grow audiences for British independent and specialised film. They currently comprise: Broadway, Nottingham and Cambridge Film Trust; Chapter, Cardiff; HOME, Manchester; Film London; Queen’s Film Theatre, Belfast; Regional Screen Scotland; the University of Brighton; Showroom Sheffield and National Media Museum, Bradford; and Watershed, Bristol. These organisations and their partners from the BFI FAN. The Film Hub for Central East (Cambridge Film Trust & Broadway Cinema, Nottingham) has secured funding as part of the BFI’s Programming Development Fund to administer and coordinate more than 80 screening events across all UK Film Hubs including film from the regional archives to engage with a wider audience in a number of venues.
About the BFI
The BFI is the lead organisation for film in the UK with the ambition to create a flourishing film environment in which innovation, opportunity and creativity can thrive by:
● Connecting audiences to the widest choice of British and World cinema
● Preserving and restoring the most significant film collection in the world for today and
future generations
● Championing emerging and world class filmmakers in the UK – investing in creative,
distinctive and entertaining work
● Promoting British film and talent to the world
● Growing the next generation of filmmakers and audiences
The BFI is a Government arm’s-length body and distributor of Lottery funds for film. The BFI serves a public role which covers the cultural, creative and economic aspects of film in the UK. It delivers this role:
● As the UK-wide organisation for film, a charity core funded by Government
● By providing Lottery and Government funds for film across the UK
● By working with partners to advance the position of film in the UK
Founded in 1933, the BFI is a registered charity governed by Royal Charter. The BFI Board of Governors is chaired by Josh Berger.