Director, Shane Duncan following from This is Croydon, Peckham and Brixton creates film This is The Ends which documents new music and food festival in Croydon. The festival being created by the community for the community was a monumental moment for the borough. The film features old and new faces discussing the importance of keeping music alive; especially in a town such as Croydon with rich music history. This is The Ends film being the last of the This is collection, we caught up with Shane to hear more about the journey and learnings taken from the films.

What made you start the This Is series?
“I guess the reason behind making the series was to shed light on an issue which wasn’t being spoken about publicly on a large scale like other current topics. After educating myself about gentrification/ regeneration I felt that I had the right tools to be able to open the eyes of others, so they could see what’s going on right under their noses without much delegation. The ‘This is’ series captures a moment in time that you’ll be able to look back upon and realise how life in areas once was before it became too late to stop changes from happening.”

How did the the series impact your perception of gentrification? 
“To be honest, I think I was quite ignorant in the beginning and you can probably tell from This is Brixton, it was somewhat negative and didn’t highlight much good that came from gentrification. As time went on and I made more films, the narratives started to change and so did my views on everything. I can openly say I’m all for regeneration if the communities are involved so both sides benefit.”  

Which episode has been your best and why?
“I think there’s something about This is Peckham that just sticks out to me in my mind, I can definitely say that after making that film, I definitely believed in myself as a filmmaker, but even more as a storyteller. I spent a most of my primary school years staying at my aunties house in Peckham whilst my mum would go to work and that’s more than a decade and a half ago and looking back, gentrification was happening slowing back then, to see a whole estate disappear that I used to play on, to then make my film about Peckham and to have a shoot of that same space now being built on decades later is somewhat poetic to me lol.”

What can we expect to see from you in the future?
“I definitely intend to continue making films about communities and our culture, so it’s definitely not the end of films by Shane Duncan, it’s only the beginning.”

Press play below to watch This is The Ends.