No Place Like Home: films about people and their houses
Film makers: Elisabeth Kozmian, Jashan Walton and Isobel Landell Mills will be present for the screening and Q&A. Hosted by Isobel Landell Mills.
THE FILMS
The Kentish Town Tapes Part 1 (2003): Fascinating footage found by Mark Nicholson in a charity shop, film maker unknown. 30 VHS recordings of members of the community, some closely connected to Torriano Meeting House.
HOME (2024) - White Teeth - Jashan Walton
Home is a short film that was shortlisted for the Make Film History Challenge at Sheffield Docfest. The film uses an interview from the Bantu Archive Programme to delve into the life of Winston Hazel, a musician from Sheffield and a resident of Hyde Park. It captures his journey of returning to Jamaica in his mid-20s, reflecting on his upbringing in the brutalist tower block of Hyde Park in Sheffield. Through Winston’s musings, the film explores themes of identity, belonging, and the blending of his parents’ heritage, his home in Sheffield, and his experiences growing up as a second-generation West Indian.
TWO HOUSES (1977) - Elisabeth Kozmian
In 1977 two architects bought derelict houses in Kentish Town, North London and set out to renovate them. Being very different people, their ways of working and approach were completely different. Alan set out to do the work himself, bit by bit, over a long period of time whilst living in the house, Clary employed builders and a supervisor to get the job finished quickly so that he could move in with his large family. I recorded the process of change over a year, taking colour slides and interviewed the people not only about the practical process but also how they felt about it and what owning a house meant to them. Their views are contrasting and that came through in the film. The two houses take shape on the screen and this process is shown through the colour slides, which have been rephotographed with emphasis on examining details and texture.
To me this house represents the Self – so working on a house is working on oneself (from C.G. Jung). Symbolically this film is about the process of renewal, about change overcoming decay, about courage and hard work. On a more pedestrian level the film is about people converting their houses, an occupation very dear to British home owners who are always tinkering with do-it-yourself. So it is a very British film.
I made this film at a time when I was obsessed with decay in general, and I myself felt a need for renewal. So, in a way, it is a very personal film. – E.K.L.
LIBERTY HALL (2024) - Isobel Landell Mills
Termed as ‘liberty hall’ by my grandfather, for its continuous comings and goings, this film is about the house my mother grew up in, where I lived, and my grandmother continues to live, alongside a revolving cast of family members. Conceived for a project exploring people’s relationships with their grandmothers this film investigates the way people become inseparable from the spaces they occupy, reconstructing the remarkable life of my 95 year old grandmother. A life defined by movement, now constrained to the walls of her bedroom and mind. Not all walls are entirely solid.
Filmmakers interested in screening their work are encouraged to attend and get in touch with Isobel: torrianomeetinghousefilmclub@gmail.com Torriano Meeting House has a long tradition of encouraging experimental and non fiction filmmaking, having worked closely with the London Filmmakers Coop film makers in the 1980s and 1990s.
In the spirit of revival we will be screening some works from this period alongside new, emerging and establishing filmmakers. For more information on future film nights please sign up for our newsletter
Isobel Landell Mills is a curator and filmmaker, interested in personal and collective myth making. She is curating the season of film screenings at Torriano and is currently working on several independent documentary projects. She recently worked at Sheffield Doc fest and Open City.
Feel free to bring food and drink
