‘Ahead of the Game’ is a feature length documentary set in the heart of the neighbourhoods hosting the London 2012 Olympics.
It is a personal exploration of the multi billion pound project as seen through the eyes of AJ, a 20 year old who grew up in poverty on the estates of the East End.
With the world’s media focused on the Games, AJ exposes the reality of development in one of the poorest places in the UK.
- ‘I felt like I was just another nigger. I definitely felt like a nigger. That’s the first time I’ve actually thought, man, I’m a nigger’
Whilst overtly, the film is the story of one young man’s view of what is happening in his neighbourhood, the subtext will resonate globally with all who have had development thrust upon them. All too often we as film makers travel to exotic locations to explore such issues. For once, this is not about the other, but instead about us. 2012 is a great opportunity to be able to deconstruct the themes of money, power and promises right here in London.
AJ will take the viewer on a journey through the side of a neighbourhood they otherwise would not be able to access, and present a view of The Games from those who live in the areas surrounding the Olympics Park - which critics say risks becoming an ‘island of prosperity’ separating rich from poor.
- ‘There are so many problems - deprivation, girls getting raped on the estates, kids having kids. So I hate it when they come up on the TV talking about solving the problems, or trying to find solutions ‘cause they ain’t’.
We have already identified key characters who AJ grew up amongst whose stories link to local neighbourhood issues that government have promised to change.
We have access to school leavers, teachers, youth workers, local shop keepers, young men who are leaving prison seeking work, local police, the local MP, single mothers and young families who are being relocated.
We intend to spend the latter part of 2010 casting further people, and then throughout 2011 document how their lives change in the run up to 2012.
AJ has an incredibly disarming power and is able to express with humour the real experiences of the people he grew up amongst.
These stories will be bound together, intercut, and set within the changing landscape of East London.
The neighbourhood will be presented as a character in itself, as it faces dramatic change. We will use this as the narrative spine of the film, with peoples’ lives taking place in and around it.
As our trailer shows, we intend to intercut AJ’s revelations with archive material providing juxtaposition and comic relief, revealing what is really being achieved behind a smokescreen of upbeat PR. The film will investigate the rhetoric versus the reality of life on the estates in one of London’s most deprived boroughs.
‘This is business. They’re investing in the area. They’re not investing in the people. It’s not necessarily changing people’s mentality. And that’s the thing you should be developing, not the area, but their mentality. Because if their mentality is straight, and their way of thinking is straight, and their understanding is straight, the area is beautiful.’
The legacy of The Games has consistently been prioritised by policy makers to be as important as the sporting memories.
‘Ahead Of The Game’ will reveal what type of legacy East London is left with by the summer of 2012.
Our journey through the neighbourhood will explore the assumption that reshaping such a large swathe of London is necessarily positive for all.
It will ask if the same level of attention is being given to the community and people, as it is to property and places.
Our characters’ stories reveal a deeper truth about the real human impact of this type of economic development, and question whether this has been a missed opportunity for London.
AJ asks if it’s possible to find another way to meet the needs of his neighbourhood.
We intend to galvinise debate around the issues raised in the film - poverty, access to jobs, affordable housing and the quality of neighbourhoods. Our outreach will advocate for more public involvement and bottom-up approaches to community regeneration.
We intend to use the film as a mouthpiece for these issues and a stimulus for local action, by connecting people to things they can actually do. For example, the film shows how jobs are key for young people in Newham to break the cycle of poverty. Meanwhile, the Council has identified a skills gap in local talent needed to fill jobs after the Olympics and to address this, there are apprenticeship schemes being developed to train local young people. Using the film as a catalyst, our aim is to raise awareness of and connect people to opportunities like these.
It is our goal to make make a film that is local in it’s story, but that resonates globally.
Locally we want the film, and parallel social action campaign, to hold policy makers to account and amplify specific local campaigns relating to housing, jobs, quality of life and grass roots democracy.
Globally we aim for the film to connect with all those who are interested in the politics and power at play within the paradigm of development.
We want the film to be used by planners and policy makers advocating for people-led regeneration in the future.