Diversity In London
Chosen Theme:
As a group we chose the subject “Diversity in London” because it illustrates London at its best we wanted to tell the story of how multicultural London is by undertaking interviews with people and having conversations with them where they will hare their experiences of multi cultural London with us. We would also be focusing on people that are not originally from Britain and their story of how they came to the UK and how it is to live and settle in a country that you were not born in. The main focus for our project is to film around certain parts of London to show the different types of communities and cultures that live there and how they have adapted to living in these areas and if it has affected their day to day lives.
Research:
We looked at certain films and documentaries about Diversity In London one of them being a short documentary made by a student from cambridge university as the documentary itself had the same subject matter so therefore was worth watching it to find information on how we could start our own one
From this documentary we gained a perspective on where we would do our filming and how we would edit our final video.
We also looked at different films that relate to multiculturalism in London such as “Miracle in Soho” and “Dirty Pretty Things”Stephen Frears the director of the film is fascinated by the multicultural side of London and how immigrants live in London. [1]
[1] En.wikipedia.org. (2017). Dirty Pretty Things (film). [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dirty_Pretty_Things_(film) [Accessed 26 Apr. 2017].
Elephant & Castle
In the 1900s to the 1930s Elephant &Castle was the main location for a thriving shopping centre and was known as “The Piccadilly Circus” of South London. The area has recently had a reputation for successful ethnic diversity and centrality. Elephant & Castle is now subject to a master- planned redevelopment budgeted at £1.5 billion [2] The area is also known for its huge Latin American.population which is constantly growing every year and Latin Residents are also taking part in the regeneration project and plans are being made to build new shops and homes to transform it in to a “Latin American Corridor” The Elephant & Castle shopping centre also has a lot of shops and restaurants which have and sell products that are from Ecuador, Colombia, Costa Rica and Argentina to name a few. [3]
Bibliography:
[2] team, L. (2017). Lib Dems promise ‘Latin American corridor’ from Elephant to Stockwell. [online] London SE1. Available at: http://www.london-se1.co.uk/news/view/4503 [Accessed 26 Apr. 2017].
[3] team, L. (2017). Latin Americans must take full part in Elephant & Castle regeneration says London Assembly chair. [online] London SE1. Available at: http://www.london-se1.co.uk/news/view/3846 [Accessed 26 Apr. 2017].
Brixton
Brixton’s identity has changed enormously over time, as during the 1920s it was South London’s shopping capital and in to the 1950s it became home to immigrants from the West Indies and In the 1980s it was well known for its many riots. But today it has become one of London’s trendiest places to live. The area itself has slowly undergone a process of gentrification since the 1990s and has resulted In many wealthy middle-class individuals taking advantage of the areas location and thriving Bohemian art scene, and in the 1980s Brixton developed into a major shopping centre and now the famous Brixton market sells a range of African American products as well as products from Asia. [5]
Bibliography:
[5] The Happiness Project London. (2017). The Brixton rennaissance. [online] Available at: https://thehappinessprojectlondon.wordpress.com/2009/11/21/the-brixton-rennaissance/ [Accessed 26 Apr. 2017].
Chinatown
- London’s first Chinatown was actually in Docklands during the 20th century until the area was damaged by the bombing during the Second World War. [6]
- The current Chinatown in Soho did not develop until the 1970s is famous for its Chinese restaurants, bakeries, supermarkets, souvenir shops and other Chinese run businesses.
- The area boasts over 80 restaurants that showcase the finest Asian cuisine that London has to offer.[7]
Bibliography:
[6] En.wikipedia.org. (2017). Chinatown, London. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinatown,_London [Accessed 26 Apr. 2017].
[7] Coren, G. (2017). Giles Coren reviews Empress of Sichuan. [online] Thetimes.co.uk. Available at: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/giles-coren-reviews-empress-of-sichuan-lq0s5m08chq [Accessed 26 Apr. 2017].
Edgware Road
- Edgware Road is known for its Arabic community and its shisha pipes and cafes. The area began to attract Arab migrants during the late 19th century during a period of increased trade with the ottoman empire.
- There are many Lebanese restaurants, shisha cafes and Arabic-themed nightclubs that line the street.
- Edgware Road is also rich in ethnic culture, and is known for its distinctive and diverse communities from across the Middle East and Africa. [8]
Bibliography:
[8] En.wikipedia.org. (2017). Edgware Road. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgware_Road [Accessed 26 Apr. 2017].
Filming Day 1:
On our first day of filming me, Deborah and Oceane went to Brixton in South London where it is mostly known for its black community and we went there to interview people on how they have grown up in a multicultural city as London. When we got there we didn’t find it hard to find people and we managed to interview around 5 people so it was a good start and we were happy that so many people were willing to participate in our documentary. For our filming we used the Sony X70 video camera and it was quite massive and as a group we did not know how to use it properly so we had to quicky look up some tutorials of the camera on YouTube and after that we learned the basics of how to operate the camera.
Final product
Alba Xhezo 