My Street
My Street is a film about a street. It could be any street. It could be your street and the people on it could be your neighbours. But My Street is where filmmaker Sue Bourne lives and until now she barely knew a soul. In this film she tweaks the net curtains and knocks on doors, revealing remarkable stories, hidden from view, on what could be almost any street in Britain. After 14 years of living on the same road Sue knew practically none of her neighbours. Intrigued by what stories might lie on her own doorstep, she began knocking on the 116 doors on her street and meeting some of the 300 people who are her neighbours. What she found were remarkable stories, from millionaires living next door to people on benefits, to convicted drug smugglers and classical composers. Sue meets party animals and recluses, the very young and the very old, hears stories of success and tragedy and sees how illness and loneliness, hope and happiness have left their mark on the lives of her neighbours.
The range of lifestyles on the street varies dramatically within yards of each other. In a 24-hour party house of New Zealanders, Camilla explains how the volume of residents can fluctuate: Theres about nine of us at the moment. If weve got dossers they could crash on the couch, so sometimes we go up to fourteen, even more. But several large houses have just one person living there, including the streets oldest resident, Alek. He has lived in the same house for fifty years but says he doesnt know anybody in the street With a twinkle in his 91-year-old eye he says - I never did live in the street. I always lived in this house, but not in the street. With only his cat and the pigeons for company since his wife died he says he has grown accustomed to being lonely, so it doesnt hurt me. But a few doors down, one of the younger residents, 11-year-old Edward thinks its a great place to live because the neighbours dont shout at him when he kicks a ball into their garden: I thought of living in the street when I grow up because its lovely and quiet, loads of nice neighbours and you can always have a lovely chat with them. Just over the road Keith and Ali experienced first hand the neighbourliness that can exist. With his wife Ali at work, a group of neighbours rallied round to take terminally-ill Keith to hospital for daily treatments of radiotherapy: They wrote their names again each day for seven weeks. And for seven weeks they took me in every day. Keith is still alive, after opting for radical treatment to cheat death. As Ali says, they now live: a day at time. 40-year-old Caroline provides the film with some of its stranger moments as her front door opens and Margaret Thatcher, Sharon Osborne or Cherie Blair emerge. Caroline is an impersonator and voice over artist whose successful career, she reveals in the film, may have come at some cost to her personal life. Shes just begun internet dating and is discovering that men are less than honest about themselves. Sue also discovers some of the hidden people in the street. People like Joseph and Adam who are rarely noticed by their neighbours. Young men struggling to live independently and cope with their many problems. Both with remarkable stories to tell but sad, difficult lives tinged with tragedy both behind and ahead of them. This gently humorous thoughtful film offers a rich and compelling study of life in contemporary Britain. All human life exists on MY STREET and while there is hope, in equal measures, there is also sadness. As it discovers neighbours and explores our relationship with them it makes us wonder what lies behind the closed doors on the streets we all live on.