SO, WHAT IS 1000 LONDONERS?
1000 Londoners is a unique digital portrait of our city. The project aims to paint a colourful, detailed and all-encompasssing portrait of a city in a way that has never been done before. It offers an insight into the lives of 1000 people who consider themselves to be Londoners, taking in all ages, religions, race, income, interests and opinions.
The films are created are created in three ways:
Professional productions by filmmakers from Chocolate Films
Workshops with youth and community groups
Themed open submissions and competitions
This long-term project involves a wide range of partners and supporters. Funders and overall project partners include: City Bridge Trust, the Newcomen Collett Foundation, The London Transport Museum, the London Borough of Southwark, the London Borough of Wandsworth and The British Library. If you’d like to talk with us about partnering on a film or a screening just get in touch.
Now go and have fun dipping into someone else’s world!
THE VISION BEHIND 1000 LONDONERS
In an increasingly divisive world, it often feels that barriers between people are too large to overcome. However
often, when we stop and listen to other people, the barriers can come down.
1000 Londoners is a chance to do just this - to listen to the people in the city around you and find out what drives them. Imagine being on the tube and being able to dip into the minds of the other passengers - that’s 1000 Londoners
Community cohesion and understanding are at the heart of the project. We hope that the films will reveal unknown facets of the city to viewers and encourage them to go out and experience other parts of the city. Through our community learning and engagement, we hope that Londoners will meet people from other parts of the city and discover more about the people around them.
Check out our director, Mark Currie’s TED talk about the genesis of the project.
THE GOLDEN RULES OF 1000 LONDONERS
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Everybody is interesting - if the film isn't interesting it's our fault, not theirs.
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The Londoner must be alive at the time of filming. This isn't a project about historical Londoners (although we’re thinking about doing one of those too!). It's a contemporary portrait of the people living in the city.
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The film starts with the contributor's first name only. There is a big difference between "Sir Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London" and "Sadiq" (yes., we’d like him to be one of the Londoners on day!
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The film is about a Londoner and it is set in London, but not necessarily about London. We don't want 1000 films about people's favourite restaurants or memories of long tube journeys. We want films about the people. The best films about cities capture something of the spirit of the city, they don't take us on a Duck Tour.
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You are a Londoner if you think you are. If someone arrived here a week ago and believes that he/she is a Londoner, that's fine. If someone has lived here all their life and still doesn't identify themselves as a Londoner, then they're not for us.
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The goal of the project is to collect documentary portraits. We want to understand who the person is and what drives them. It shouldn't feel like a promotional film for an organisation or an event. Nor is it a fund-raising film or a campaign film. Just a quick portrait.
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We want each film to be a new story. Our goal is to uncover new stories, thoughts and opinions from within a capital. If the person has no media presence, this is easier. If the person has a media presence then we aim to unveil something new about them.
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There is no house style - the story drives everything. If a film is one shot or 1000 that's fine. If it's a photomontage, animation, dramatisation etc that's all fine too, as long as the style is driven by the story and the nature of the contributor.
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There are no rules about what is or is not permissible - London isn't Disneyland. If it serves the story it goes in but the film will feature a caution at the beginning.m description
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Our goal is to be as objective as possible, not to judge - it's too easy for a filmmaker to make a 3 minute film saying that bankers are too rich or that people are taking too much money from benefits (depending on what side of the political fence you seem to be on!). With 1000 Londoners, we aim to show a portrait of that person's life.
FILMS TO WATCH ONLINE, IN CINEMAS AND IN GALLERY
1000 Londoners can be experienced in many ways. All the films are available to view here, on the 1000 Londoners website, and on the 1000 Londoners Youtube channel.
We create films in seasons, and screen these at major cinemas and galleries across the city as part of the 1000 Londoners Movie Nights programme. Find out more about the different seasons on our collections page. We also regularly screen the films both before feature films at major cinemas and summer outdoor screenings. You can find out more about where the next films are screening at the events page.
Many of the films have been broadcast on TV across the world. If you’d like to talk to us about licensing a film, just get in touch at our contact page.
Tate Modern held a retrospective of 1000 Londoners films in three screenings at Tate Modern.
1000 LONDONERS IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY…
CHOCOLATE FILMS WORKSHOPS
Chocolate Films Workshops is the UK’s leading provider of video and animation workshops for children and young people. As the not-for-profit sister company of Chocolate Films, it has been providiing workshops for children and young people in London since 2001 and has won multiple awards. Chocolate Films Workshops produces the workshop and community engagement products for 1000 Londoners.
Chocolate Films is London’s favourite video production company, well known for its documentaries, promos, brand films, training content, animations, event video production and live streaming services. Founded in 2001, Chocolate Films works with everyone from small businesses to global brands. Chocolate Films is Net Zero and a social enterprise.
NINE ELMS STUDIO
Nine Elms Studio is the high quality video and photographic school based at the heart of London’s newest district - NIne Elms. Situated between the US Embassy and Battersea Power Station, it is the perfect place to shoot video and photographic content - or even documentary interviews with Londoners!
