The process of making a documentary; ‘The Teatime experience’ Part 1: finding inspiration

As a student, the prospect of creating a film can seem challenging or even impossible. Lola and Miquel are both first year BA Media and Communications students at Goldsmiths University. Their passion for the creative arts, film and documentary not only inspired them to pursue this subject, but to attempt creating their own documentary.

When I was E-Mailed by a couple of students about making this documentary, I knew I had to meet them and explore this as much as possible. Although they explained that this film is still a work in process, it was clear that they possessed the potential to create something amazing. We met on a lovely spring evening and this is what I learned from them:

Lola Panic, 25 – Sheffield, and Miquel Agell, 19 – Barcelona, are two passionate and creative students who met each other during their course. Their friendship soon inspired the brilliant idea of making a documentary series about various communities living in London.

As Miquel explained, their journey began on a cold December day exploring the Stratford area around Westfield shopping centre. Here, they decided to take some pictures and enjoy the winter season. Soon, a far smaller, less exciting, and even somewhat frightening shopping centre caught their eye. ‘It was full of little shops and multicultural food stores. It was very compressed and extremely hot’, Lola explained.

At that moment, Miquel and Lola were not yet aware of the idea they were about to conjure and which would go on to inspire their brilliant documentary series. Lola continued: ‘We just wanted to take some pictures of the tiny shops that we came across, until a random man suddenly got into my shot and started to chat about it’. He soon explained that the shop we were so fascinated by, was a Chinese and English chippy shop’. They quickly learnt that this little shop had existed in the mall since the 1960’s and the owners were as dedicated as they were interesting due to their fascinating past.

Shortly after going to Stratford, they decided to visit Crystal Palace, where they met a woman similar to their previous acquaintance in Stratford. She began telling them Crystal Palace’s history and described the community which has developed here throughout the years. ‘It made us think about the cultural values and community building that influenced London’, reflected Lola. There and then, both Lola and Miquel realized: the idea had been born.

They quickly began to explore a multitude of brilliant and vibrant communities in London, which they could learn from. Surprisingly, even the rollerblading community which Lola herself is a part of, has a lot of interesting stories to share. Consequently, they managed to find some extraordinary people who enrich London’s diversity and culture.

Currently Lola and Miquel are building a crew, planning the filming schedule and are getting ready to develop the best documentary of their lives. They hope to present it in various film festivals around the world and share the unique stories of so many communities which exists in the heart of London. We cannot wait to see what comes next!

Lola’s ig https://www.instagram.com/lolapanic/

Miquel’s ig https://www.instagram.com/miquelagell/

Article by Ugne Giraityte

Journey to Documentary