My passion for documentary stems from my interest in real stories. I have always been passionate on finding out about different people and their experiences in life. I knew for my FMP I wanted to focus on a local person as I did not want to jump straight to a big subject which is what most student do. I wrote a list of people and locations that I had access to, I wanted to uncover a story that has many different aspects and twists, this is when I thought of Hector. Hector has been a part of my life for as long as I remember, he has many interesting stories to tell and has been through a lot. His comical and energetic character comes to life whenever he is around people which makes him loved by many. His life and his achievements fascinated me therefore I thought this would be a good starting point for my documentary.

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My desire to make this documentary derives from the “reputation” that many people have of Handsworth. The media reports stories that someone has been shot or stabbed in Handsworth, but doesn’t this happen in other places? Is there not violence in and throughout this country? Why is it that Handsworth has this reputation and other places do not? Is my hometown, Handsworth really as bad as it is made out to be? These are the questions that I wish to explore in my documentary. From personal experience I witness people’s reactions when I tell them that I am from Handsworth. This usually ends up, with them joking about me carrying a knife or a gun around.  I want to show that Handsworth is not actually a bad place and there are people trying to change it for the better, people like Hector. Ever since the riots back in 1985, Handsworth has had a bad stigma attached to it, this is something that I want to explore in this documentary. Like I said on the About Me page I want to show how a black man and his family made a difference in a segregated society.  I do not just want to make a film about a man who has an interesting life. I want to explore the deeper meaning of unity and how people are trying to make a better community.  While carrying out my primary research I found out about what people from Handsworth thought of the area. This helped me gain insight into the matter and showed me what people who live in area think about Handsworth as opposed to people who do not live in the area. It was really interesting to find out how Handsworth has changed and what people who have just moved here think of the area. I believe that there are not many documentaries about the small “neighborhoods” even though these neighborhoods are rich in history and culture. I believe it is neglected in the media. I have seen documentaries about Birmingham as a whole but nothing about the small areas, I believe that focusing on these small areas gives more context to the bigger city of Birmingham which is why I think it will be a good documentary subject.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To further my contextual understanding of what’s already out there I looked into different media forms to see what has had similar themes. I came across a film named Handsworth songs. This film explores the 1985 riots that happened in Handsworth. The film gained recognition through its multi-stranded narrative, visual experimentation, a mosaic of sound, interspersed with newsreel, and still photographs of black people's lives. This experimental film shared similar themes that I wish to explore, themes such as love, community, unity and racial tension. I believe that my film will differ from this as I have the advantage of having that history to compare it to how Handsworth is today. I can draw parallels to the riots and how Handsworth has changed since then. This film also taught me that just because I am focusing on one area, it still has the potential of becoming successful and reaching a wide audience.

 

I think that this project needs to be made right now because Hector has retired from his job as the Handsworth library’s security manager, a place where many people got to know him. I want him to be recognized for all the great things that he has done. I also want to question the difference between how black people were treated in the 1960s to how they are treated now and if anything has changed. There is still a negative portrayal of black people in the media and they are represented in a certain way. I think it would be interesting to show Hector, a black man who migrated from Jamaica to Handsworth, making something out of his life and challenging this stereotype that has been produced by the media. This is something that is still relevant in the media today. The audience will empathise with this story as he is a character that many people can relate to. He has lived in the UK since 1962 so he has lived through many events, and changes that have happened in the UK. The viewers will have a better understanding of the Handsworth area as many people lack knowledge about the area. I think people will appreciate how Hector is trying to make a difference in a so called "violent area." 

 

This documentary will consist of an interview of Hector himself, intercut with interviews with people who know him on a personal level. I feel as though it is important to get other people to talk about Hector to highlight the impact he has made on them. I want to show how Hector sees people and how people see Hector. These interviews will overlay and intercut between the observational footage and the the archive footage.

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Bibliography

 

BFI (n.d.) BFI Screenonline: Handsworth songs (1986) [online] available from <http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/441093/> [10 January 2017]