Micky Holland is the Arts Correspondent at the Southwark News but when he’s not in the theatre or an art gallery he is busy teaching and making documentaries with a local interest; he even made The History of the Southwark News, writes Elizabeth Paul…
Tell me about your films.
I’ve made films about the history and future of pie and mash, the history of Arments’ pie and mash shop, Surrey Docks, the Bermondsey Artists’ Group, Clubland in Camberwell, documentaries about local artists, Tooley Street… and I’ve just finished one about a council estate in Bermondsey called Silwood Estate: Our History – Our Home.
What is your connection to Silwood Estate?
I moved there when I was three, with me mum and little brother; it was brand new then and only half of it was built, the other half was a building site, and there were still some of the old houses that the new flats were replacing.
It was more or less my home up until I was about 30, it was my childhood, my early adulthood – My son Jimmy grew up there.
How did the film come about?
When I heard that they were going to knock Silwood down I wanted to film the blocks of flats so I always had a memory of them, that was about 1998, and I kept going back to film the buildings as they became derelict and empty, and the big machinery pulling them down. It was very sad.
Eventually, a Facebook page was started and I reconnected with some of the kids I used to play with and we would swap stories online.
I had just completed a degree with film-making as one of the modules, so I asked the Facebook group if anyone would like to be interviewed by me for a film, which got a good response, and the film grew from there.
Why has it taken so long?
About six years ago I was asked to facilitate a film-making class at the London College of Communication through the Open Book Project that was actually started in the late 90s by Joe Baden, an ex-Silwood resident who wanted to open up higher education opportunities for people from a prison or addiction background, or with mental health problems.
The film class got a few commissions: one was to make a promo for Wandsworth Council, and another two came through Russell the Fishman to promote The Blue Market, so we were quite busy and people in the class were learning some good skills.
I then got a little bit of funding from The Mayor’s Culture Seeds funds for the Silwood film, which allowed me to buy some great archive photos from the early days of the estate, pay for travel expenses as I drove around SE England interviewing former Silwood residents, while also having access to all the cameras and editing equipment in the college.
We were very close to finalising the edit and had the community hall on the Silwood Estate booked to screen the film in May 2020, when Covid came and the college closed along with our access to their cameras and editing facilities.
What happened during Covid?
Solomon, our main editor, moved to Birmingham and Open Book’s contract with the college expired, but I bought two new cameras and managed to film a few more interviews between lockdowns that needed editing. Open Book gave me a laptop with a good editing programme on it, so I recruited a new editor, Dianne, who had a lot of experience from working at the BBC, and Adam, one of the original team, came back on board.
Adam had been doing courses in Sound through Open Book and had become quite an expert, plus he had a musical background, so not only did he do some camera work in the interviews, he also did all the sound on the film and composed all the music, which is really good.
At what stage are you now?
We couldn’t just meet at the London College of Communication and work for hours on the film as we had before; Dianne had responsibilities, and Adam now had other things to do, so we met when we could at my house and let Dianne work her magic on the footage we had. Between us we got the film finished in September 2023.
Are you happy with it?
Yes, very much so. I could have finished editing the film myself but it would not have been as good as it is now. Mine would have been a very basic edit that reflected my basic editing skills, and the sound would not have been anywhere near as good as it is now – It wouldn’t have any music, that’s for sure! So yes, I’m very happy with how the film came out and feel very lucky to have Adam and Dianne make it as good as it is.
Whose history is told in your film?
It begins with those who got bombed out of the old terraced houses that were there before. Some moved away and some moved straight into the new flats.
Then it’s those who lived and grew up there before it got demolished again and a newer estate built around the turn of the century.
It ends with interviews with the new residents who live there now. And all those people who cover the years from 1940 – 2020 are connected by living in the same streets, going to the same church and the same school.
Now what?
I’ve got the first screening booked at Goldsmiths College on Monday 9th October, 7.30pm. Admission is free.
I’ll see what the numbers are like and book another one when it’s needed.
What next?
I’ve got loads of interviews done over the years with Bermondsey people, so I need to do something with those.
Will it take another 25 years?
Dunno.
Room 137, Richard Hoggart Building(Main Building), Goldsmiths College, Lewisham Way, SE14 6NW.
For further details: michael@southwarknews.co.uk
