50 neighbours document their experiences of lockdown

Neighbours on one street in St George have created a film to reflect on the first lockdown, which started in March 2020.

A Window in Time documents many of the lockdown cliches and will help those that did not have the option to stay home at that time.

The film, which captures intimate glimpses of the neighbours’ lives in lockdown, is being used to raise money for charities Caring in Bristol and Shelter.

Many of the neighbours work in creative industries and felt that, with all the work drying up, they wanted to put their creativity to good use and create something to document this historic time.

“My neighbour Jenni approached me and a few other people, she’s an arts facilitator, and suggested that we kind of come together and do something creative to process this quite surreal period of history that we were all living through,” says Victoria Bromley, director of A Window in Time.

“It started with just five of us on a Zoom call, which is kind of ironic considering we all live a few doors down from each other.”

When creating the short film they realised that they were in a lucky position to be able to have a home to stay in.

“It made us all reflect on the fact that for a lot of people when you’re told to stay at home that doesn’t really apply if you’re homeless or if you don’t have security,” says Victoria.

“We wanted to use the film to give something back to a good cause, so we decided to use it to raise money for Shelter and Caring in Bristol, these are two charities that do such amazing work to support people in that insecurity.”

The film has also prompted a lot of nostalgic feelings towards the sunny weather and the blissful naivety many people felt during lockdown one, whilst also capturing the severity and reality of the pandemic.

“For me as a wildlife filmmaker it felt like the whole world had become much more in tune with nature, our neighbours were sending videos of all the birds, people watching the seasons change,” Victoria says.

“It was a very magical but very heightened emotional time. So it really is kind of interesting to remember that now because come lockdown three everyone’s feeling the fatigue.”

The film, set to a score also created by the street’s inhabitants, indulges in these magical feelings. One neighbour, Bob, featured reading a story about fairies over zoom to his grandchildren inspired by the appearance of “fairy doors” on the trees around St George Park.

Still from A Window in Time, pictured: Bob. Photo: Cloud Hill Collective/YouTube

“You know a lot of the news was showing the extremes of lockdown but for many people, it’s hard to remember Bristol itself in the first lockdown, we didn’t have big numbers of Covid cases, it very much felt like it was at arm’s length,” says Victoria.

“It was hard to process because you’re so aware of what’s happening and you know it’s real but you look out into the park and see this beautiful sunshine and the flowers coming out.”

The final product is a short film that captures many of the complex emotions brought about by the pandemic, with a thought-provoking nudge towards donating to two charities that do lots of work in Bristol.

Main photo: Cloud Hill Collective/YouTube

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