A Riot Of Our Own
2015, 45 minutes
Documenting the final days of London's iconic 12 Bar Club
It was never going to end quietly, was it? The 12 Bar Club in Soho has been shut down for redevelopment work in the area. Documenting the last days of this iconic music venue in the heart of London, armed with one small camera and some makeshift lighting, I set out to capture a final glimpse of the community and the spirit that is being challenged by the removal of its centre. It’s not slick and it’s not pretty, but then neither was the 12 Bar. This place revelled in its raw honesty (which extended to its toilet cleaning policy) and I wanted to capture this in its truest form. Live music is something I live for, and I wanted to share that feeling. The venue and the music it nurtured not only inspired a whole community to sing, dance, shout, laugh and cry, but to fight for what they believed in; even for those not directly involved with the place during its tenure, it became a symbol of unrelenting realness, as something of the people for the people in a changing society that increasingly feels like it's being taken from us and sold off piece by piece. Much like the venue itself, this is a loud, beer soaked, visceral little film that documents the history, the music, the people and their voices.