Synopsis

A black-and-white handheld recording of the first E1 Festival community meeting in East London as part of the Basement Project. The E1 Festival was a community run event that took place throughout the 1970s on vacant land in the East End of London. Originally set up to raise money for the Junior Football League, the Festival in Stepney was a weekend long event of music, performing arts, stalls, and activities for people of all ages. The camera roves across a room where a table is set up with men at the front, and a row of chairs filled with other members opposite them, set up like an assembly room of predominantly men. The camera zooms in on individual members as they speak, sometimes fuzzing out and dropping down to the floor. The film captures the passionate discussion with moments of tension as one man says, ‘Let me finish man. I didn’t interrupt when you talk’. Topics discussed include organising buses to bring children from further out, how to ensure health and safety, and the logistical set up of various children’s activities, the themes of the festival. The meeting exposes the frustrations of organising and the various different priorities of the team members.