New Portobello Road Black History Walk Film

During October 2020, Black History month, we shot a short film of a Black History walk in #Portobello Road  for local residents and people interested in this aspect of British History. We worked with a local young actor and musician, Emmanuel Simon (Manny), as the storyteller.

 

Manny did an amazing job, recounting some of the most interesting and relevant aspects of Portobello Road history. We filmed him on a walk along Portobello and Golborne roads, telling the story of this area’s rich black history and some of the most important characters, including the arrival of the Windrush generation, racism experienced by arrivals from the Caribbean, the founding of the carnival and aspects of the wonderful musical heritage in the area (Did you know Bob Marley recorded the album ‘Exodus’ at Island Records, Basing St Studios?)

A member of our staff researched the history and help create the script. The film which was co-produced and edited by Alex Diaz (www.alxdz.co.uk) with the collaboration of local North Kensington artist Renata Fernandez (www.renatafernandez.com) for the portraits.

You can watch the Portobello Road Black History Walk film in our YouTube channel. Hope you’ll enjoy it.

Special thanks to the film Funders: Culture, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and the Grenfell Young People’s Fund, Evening Standard Dispossessed Fund, London Community Foundation. And to the Tabernacle for their help and support.