Windrush Films
Windrush Generations: 1000 Londoners
Discover the lives of five generations of Londoners with Caribbean heritage in this series of short film portraits.
‘Windrush Generations’ has been created as part of 1000 Londoners, a flagship project produced by Chocolate Films and created by founders Rachel Wang and Mark Currie. Over a decade, one thousand short documentaries will be made about Londoners to create an eclectic and original portrait of the city.
Explore a selection of the ‘Windrush Generations’ films below and visit 1000 Londoners to view the full evolving series, with at least one new film published each week.
Kenny
Comedian and singer Kenny Lynch toured with the Beatles and appeared in Carry On films. From Caribbean-Irish heritage, he was born in the East End in 1938 before the Windrush era. In his short portrait, Kenny talks about growing up in Stepney during the war.
Stephen
Stephen is a historian, primarily of black Britain. Stephen was heavily influenced by his Aunt Esther, born and brought up a Londoner, whose father was originally from Barbados. She was adopted by Stephen’s great-grandmother.
Rosemarie
Although very young at the time, Rosemarie feels she is part of the Windrush generation. Rosemarie moved from Barbados to the UK in the 1960s and describes how she had to protect herself from racism. Rosemarie has dedicated her life to equality and fairness in the community and serves as a Reverend.
Jocelyn
Dame Jocelyn Barrow is a race relations pioneer. She was one of the founders of the Campaign Against Racial Discrimination, and her work has encompassed broadcast, healthcare and housing. She even persuaded the retailers of Oxford Street to let people of colour work on the shop floor as opposed to the stock-room where they had previously been working.
Yvonne
Yvonne has lived her whole adult life in a large town house in suburban London. She welcomes us in and tells us about her heyday as a fashion designer, designing clothes for the rich and famous with her husband in London.
Alex
Alex Pascall is a ground-breaking BBC journalist, who set up, along with his wife Joyce, the radio programme Black Londoners on BBC Radio London. He reminisces about his interviews with Muhammad Ali, Angela Davis and more.
Merle
Merle moved from Trinidad to the UK in the 1960s when she was a nurse. Passionate about creativity, she went on to study photography and travel the world.
Keith
Keith reminisces about coming over to London in the 1960s and being surprised to hang up his wet clothes on the washing line and find they were still damp at the end of the day.
Keith is a member of the Caribbean Social Forum and can also be seen in this partnership project between the British Library, Caribbean Social Forum and Chocolate Films Workshops.
Sara
London teacher Sara Burke is the granddaughter of Jamaican immigrants who came to the UK during the Windrush era. Unhappy with the threat of deportation of Windrush generation Britons, in 2018 she led a protest marching from Parliament Square to the Home Office.
Breyanna
Breyanna is teenager who loves to run and aspires to one day run in the Olympics. She often feels trapped in the classroom but running makes her feel free.
This film was made by first-time filmmakers on a Chocolate Films Workshop, in collaboration with London Sport.