ocialist Worker 2178, 21 November 2009
1 Day this film might be shown on its home turf|21Nov09|Socialist Worker
Reviews

1 Day this film might be shown on its home turf
The engaging film 1 Day should be seen, in defiance of the police’s attempts to ban it, writes Luke Evans

The new film 1 Day is about 24 hours in the life of a young black man in Birmingham, and the trials and tribulations he experiences as a result of being caught up in a local gang.
The film has been the focus of an unprecedented police campaign over their “fears” that it could provoke gang violence.
The campaign involved members of the police successfully pressuring cinemas across the West Midlands to pull the film from its schedules.
Police even interrupted one screening with a largely black audience in Birmingham so that they could switch on the lights and “count attendees”.
I was worried about seeing the film, because I am certainly not a fan of the simplistic “cockney geezer” gangster films of Guy Ritchie, and a lot of current British-made gangsters films seem to follow his style.
But I needn’t have worried – 1 Day, written and directed by Penny Woolcock, is nothing like Ritchie’s films. And in many ways, it’s quite the opposite.
For a start, most of 1 Day is dedicated to showing the multiple pressures that the main character, Flash, has to deal with.
These include family, friends, ex-girlfriends, religious leaders – embodied in the figure of a well-meaning priest – and children.
Betrayal
The overarching storyline involves Flash trying to gather the £100,000 missing from the £500,000 he owes to fellow gang member Angel, who has just been released from jail.
This leads Flash into confrontations with a rival gang, who remain largely anonymous, except for Evil – a former friend of Flash’s.
It is Evil’s betrayal of Flash that causes a conflict between the rival gangs.
But this overall story serves mostly as motivation for plot twists and set-ups. The bulk of the film involves snapshots from Flash’s life – arguing with his friends, being bombarded with phone calls from people wanting drugs, running into his “babymothers”, and being told off by his Grandma.
The film is bleak at times.
1 Day does not avoid portraying the social pressures and circumstances that result in Flash making the decisions he does.
His character is not without a sense of justice – he always strives to do the right thing by those he cares for, and he does not behave as though is happy with his life as it is.
The bleakness is reflected in a scene in a fast-food restaurant where Flash, Angel and two other friends muse on the fact that they feel like their lives are fated to end early and violently.
One of the most interesting things about the film is that it is relatively devoid of violence.
There is a much smaller body count, and it is nowhere near as flippant about death as say, The Dark Knight or any number of Hollywood blockbusters. Every death in 1 Day is traumatic.
Even the death of former gang member El Presidente, which takes place before the time depicted in the film, warrants a scene where Flash and his friends visit his grave and share a moment of collective remembrance.
1 Day is also a hip-hop musical.
Key scenes feature grime rap instead of dialogue. This is important to stress because it also shows that the film doesn’t take itself too seriously – it doesn’t try to offer itself up as some kind of template for how people should be or behave.
Invariably
White people are never expected to excuse the behaviour of white gangsters in any of the multiple, awful films that invariably star Danny Dyer.
So why should the young black stars of 1 Day have to “excuse” making this film?
The fact that it is often funny, and features young people making cool music, makes me wonder why young black people would feel like they have any less right to do this kind of film than the god-awful Guy Ritchie.
The film has its positives in the way it depicts the competing demands on Flash. It works fairly hard, and I think fairly successfully, to depict him as ill at ease with his lifestyle.
Flash takes a young boy called Pest under his wing, and makes a real effort to educate him in how best to survive the complex world that exists for anyone involved in crime.
The film left me wishing the characters could have a break from all the anxieties, tensions and pressures they were under.
Which I think says more about whether it glamorises violence or not than what the police think of it.
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FROM THE BBC

1 Day on Birmingham's inner city streets
by Patricia Hoskins
Drugs, money, guns and gangs – no this isn’t a movie about the gangland streets of New York, it’s a movie about the streets of inner city Birmingham depicted by a new film called 1 Day due to be released on 6 Nov 2009. Watch clips from the movie.

2 crews, 1 city and 24 hrs

It’s already been compared to the American classic Boyz in the Hood and labelled as Britain’s first hip hop musical; 1 Day follows the violent life of two inner city gangs and claims to closely depict everyday life faced by some young people in UK inner cities.
Shot on location in and around Handsworth, the film's entire cast of actors are all from the local streets.
The controversial film, part funded by Screen West Midlands is due to be released in UK cinemas on 6 November 2009 and is already causing quite a stir. Concerns have been raised by Birmingham’s community that the film glamorises a gangster lifestyle of guns, crime and money, while also portraying black youths in a negative way.

Flash watches his back (picture from the film)

A day in the life of a hustler
Written and directed by Penny Woolcock, 1 Day follows 24 hours in the life of Flash, an inner-city hustler who’s day steadily gets worse when he finds out local gang leader Angel is being released from prison and wants his £500k he left with him for safekeeping. Short of the full amount Flash needs to find the money fast.

Angel threatens Flash

Flash's day gets more and more intense as he's pursued by rival gang members, the police, his three irrate baby mothers and his grandmother.
Film maker Penny Woolcock says the film is a fiction not a documentary but it is telling a truth.
“Something terrible is happening to the young men in our inner cities. Boys are excluded from school; they then get bored and are easily drawn into street crime and drug dealing. Nobody cares that marginalised young black, Asian or white men are killing each other,” says Woolcock.
Watch clips from the movie 1 Day
Watch: 1 Day movie clip 1 - Flash looks to raise the cash >
Watch: 1 Day movie clip - Bishop Webley talks to Flash >
Watch: 1 Day movie clip - Hate You video >
Watch:War Song video clip from the film soundtrack >
Help playing audio/video

1 Day the movie

1 Day on BBC WM
So does the film reflect real life on the streets of inner-city Birmingham?

1 Day War Song

Various community organisations, West Midlands Police and community leaders were involved in a consultation process throughout the making of the film; young people from the local communities were also involved to ensure the film depicted real life on the streets.
BBC WM's Phil Upton Breakfast Show explored some of the controversy surrounding the locally made film.
Listen again to interviews featured on the show including: 1 Day script writer and film director Penny Woolcock, lead actor Dylan Duffus who plays Flash, Chris Dyer from Safer Birmingham Partnerships and Derrick Campbell a government advisor on gun and knife crime.
Listen again to 1 Day on BBC WM >

Behing the scenes

An interview with Penny Woolcock
Film director Penny Woolcock is no stranger to Birmingham. Her 1997 screen drama, Macbeth on the Estate, was filmed on the Ladywood estate. Over a hundred local people from the estate took part in the film, in front and behind the camera.

1 Day film director Penny Woolcock

In an interview about making the hard hitting film 1 Day, Penny talks about experiencing everyday life in Birmingham's Afro-Caribbean community and learning street slang.
Penny explains: "If people say that this film offers no redemption then they’re right. Redemption is up to us, you can’t just stick it on the end of a film to cheer yourself up.
"Young men involved in drugs are making money. As the pastor says in the film ‘I know that crime 'does' pay, otherwise people wouldn’t do it - It’s not a black thing. It’s a thing. And it’s true whether we like it or not."
Read a full interview with 1 Day film director Penny Woolcock >

Gun crime on Birmingham's streets

Guns in the city
Bringing Hope, Young Disciples and Mothers against Guns are just a few of the many Birmingham organisations that are working to solve the issues of knives, guns and gangs in the city also supporting those affected.
Thelma Perkins runs an organisation called Mothers in Pain - in an interview on BBC WM's Joe Aldred Show, Thelma commented on some of the issues raised by the film.
“I’m not saying that people should be in denial that this sort of thing is going on, but now the issues are going to be hyped up even more. What I would ask is, what is being done for the people who want to leave that sort of lifestyle and do something positive with their lives?"

Who's Afraid of the hood? - debate at the Drum

Who’s Afraid of the Hood?
In July 2008 the Drum in Aston brought together a panel of key players to debate the cause and effects of violent gun and knife crime in Birmingham’s inner city and the impact on families and communities.
Listen again to the debate:
Who's Afraid of the Hood? - Drum debate >
1 Day the movie
So does 1 Day glamorise a life of crime? The film is due to be released in cinemas across the UK on 6th November 2009, viewers will then get the chance to make up their own minds.
SHOWING IN THE FOLLOWING CINEMAS ACROSS BIRMINGHAM & BLACK COUNTRY
(CERT 15, 101 mins)

1 Day War Song

SHOWCASE BIRMINGHAM: Kingsbury Road (A38), Erdington, B24 9QE, 0871 220 1000
VUE STAR CITY: Star City, Unit 29, Watson Rd, Nechells, Birmingham, B7, 0871 224 0240
EMPIRE CINEMA: Bristol Rd, Rubery, Rednal, Birmingham, B45, 0871 471 4714
CINEWORLD WOLVERHAMPTON: Bentley Bridge Leisure Park, Wednesfield Way, Wedn, WV11 1TZ, 0871 200 2000
SHOWCASE WALSALL: Bently Mill Way, Walsall, West Midlands, WS2 0LE, 0871 220 1000
SHOWCASE DUDLEY: Castle Gate Way, Dudley, DY1 4TA, 0871 220 1000
Watch clips from the movie 1 Day
Watch: 1 Day movie clip 1 - Flash looks to raise the cash >
Watch: 1 Day movie clip - Bishop Webley talks to Flash >
Watch: 1 Day movie clip - Hate You video >
Watch:War Song video clip from the film soundtrack >
Help playing audio/video
last updated: 02/11/2009 at 11:36
created: 19/08/2009

You are in: Birmingham > People > Your Community > 1 Day on Birmingham's inner city streets

European society isn't at risk of gang culture in the way ours is... as we've seen, the work of an entire generation can go to pot when social pressures make for that kind of enviroment. That and just because they see fit to make films about well mannered yet brutal gangsters dosent mean we should, diffrent experiences, fudal films about the wild west for example show a time passed not one lived... fantasy and non fiction, there's a diffrence. This is real.

Film sounds intresting though, not a fan of grime but will look out for it. Surprised they're banning it, make it out like we're stupid. Got no right to do something like that.

Hmmmm.... firstly I'm not a fan of these ''us and them' comparisons but talking social studies who is more at risk of criminal culture fuelled by poverty and an underclass current?

Yes there have always been gangs in western society, very much a culture of it amongst the dutch for example where each town once had a militia, its where they got the whole crew pose idea from;


but in todays world the fabric of their socirty isn't at risk of a 80's like epidemic or some drug war tearing apart an entire community, as our countries aren't so well off and we ''aren't'' able to police our own communities criminal culture effects us much more... just look at what happened when some middle class english boy got stabbed this year, they sat there and sought to change the law on knife crime right there and then when its been an issue for a while, not to blame them its their country, they can simply react to issues facing them better than we can ours.

For the journalist to say that we shouldn't care about making films like this because they do draws on a lopsided comparison, to them all those gang films, the music and so on are stories, fiction, they're past their fudal times.... we on the other hand are still facing ours so its not fiction but gloryfied, perpetuation of a problem.

When we've cleared the hurdle and can stop and talk when a stranger asks us for the time in the street without having to keep walking in case he or she is on crack then we can make films on what it was like when the local dealer ran the estate, throw in all the effects and everything but until then I'm not intrested... this stoy is fine, makes its point but otherwise its out there off screen so why bother with it on screen? May as well sit in a car outside Brixton cinema and watch the dealers from there.

@ Anchor Man

That's a strange example!

And I don't understand any of the above?

So are you saying there is not point in making the film while it is still a reality?

Ps why would you be scared to give a 'junkie' the time if they asked? Are you afraid to give a drunk person the time?

Not talking about this film, only the comment the person made stating that theres nothing wrong with making films about gangsters because 'everybody else does it' when the fact is that to them it is fantasy as its not something that troubles their world to us it is the opposite, real, and not fantasy. Fudal times in some places, this aint disney land.

Ghetto rule of thumb, unless you're local walk like you know where you're going, cats call you out from across the street or approach you? Recognise for a short time but keep walking cause you've got some place to be. Look lost and look on getting jacked for what you got. Thats 25 years in the life of a young black man speaking right there.

Remember one of the most hurtful incidences happened to me a while ago, around that time the kids were stabbing each other up all too frequently, was in finsbury park on my way back from a martial arts class think I had a hood on, was in a gym mood, bit powered up.... passed these two young brothers but had to stop a few feet further on as my laces had become undone and I had to rush for the train... street rule don't do... kids thought the worst, couldn't describe how it felt seeing them scared like that... same with pulling up in a car next to a brother to ask for something with your friend in the next seat... street rule don't do especially when the crime level is on the rise or theres a bit of media hype.

Ask someone like D.Toth or Black Power, certain code to ascribe to when you're out and about in places.

Who’s afraid of the hood?

By Patricia Hoskins

What's really happening on our streets? Has violent youth culture become an epidemic? Is gun and knife crime spiralling out of control? The Drum brought together key players from Birmingham to thrash it out. Hear what they had to say.

Who's Afraid of the hood? - Drum summit


Britain’s gun and knife culture is still dominating the headlines. Politicians and their advisers are desperately looking for answers - but they still seem no closer to solving the central question: what can be done to end gun and knife crime?
Who's afraid of the hood? - The Drum Summit
On Saturday 12th July 2008 The Drum in Aston played host to a major debate around this issue.

The Drum Summit Panel

Hosted by Dr Derek Campbell (a Home Office advisor on guns and gangs), the diverse representative panel included: Suzette Davonport (Assistant Chief Constable, West Midlands Police), Kirk Dawes (Managing Director, West Midlands Mediation and Transformation Service), Marc Edwards (Managing Director, Young Disciples), Mike Royal (Coordinator, Birmingham Street Pastors) and Gleen Reid (Mothers Against Guns)
The panel and audience openly discussed their opinions on the cause and effects of violent gun and knife crime, the impact on families and communities and ideas on the way forward.
Read and listen to highlights from the summit below and have your say on the issues raised. BBC - Birmingham - People - Who’s afraid of the hood?

QUOTE FROM PARTICIPANT :

"Mike Royal: I think the biggest impact is fear – often the fear of crime is bigger than the reality. I long to see a community that doesn’t live in fear..."

Hmmmm... tend to be alright if you keep to yourself and don't know whats happening, puts it a world away from you but if you've been involved in it its like it stays with you, you know whats going on and people pick up on it subconsiously and involve you in it. Remember having to make a trip to Brixton regulally within a month I was getting nods of recognition from local cats. Makes me laugh, some ghetto folk can see right through you.