January 3, 2018

By Nia Shaw, Marketing & Events Co-ordinator

The impact of gentrification on the lives of young people is the focus of a new film project launched in Hackney this year. Future Hackney equips young people in the borough with cameras and technical training to document the changing landscape of Hackney. From short films set in Pedro Boxing Club to a photo series of Hoxton locals and music videos filmed near Hackney Wick, the project explores the areas at the frontline of gentrification.

The initiative was set up by six visual artists who wanted to increase access to filmmaking for young people in the borough. After receiving funding from the Big Lottery Fund’s Reaching Communities scheme, they launched Future Hackney and spoke to the youngsters who would be involved to determine the project’s main theme.

Donna Travis, one of the artists who set up Future Hackney, said: “The subject that most of the young people want to engage with is gentrification and change in Hackney. They want to look at themes such as social and ethnic cleansing, predatory investment and the impact these changes are having on existing residents.”

We are thrilled that Future Hackney’s Hoxton Stories series is currently on display at Hoxton Hall until March next year. The series features street photography of Hoxton locals accompanied by short quotes about their lives. Some of the images from the exhibition are below, but if you would like to see the full exhibition please do pop into Hoxton Hall to take a look.

Check out Future Hackney‘s videos and photography on their instagram page: @futurehackney

Future Hackney are currently looking for people of all ages from Hackney who have something to say about gentrification and how it has affected them to appear in a future video. To get in touch with Future Hackney, email: donnatravis@innercityfilms.co.uk

The exhibition is FREE and is open to the public weekdays from 13:00 – 18:00.