Residents use compensation from Outlaws filming to tell positive stories

Residents who spoke out about filming on their estate for the BBC series The Outlaws have now received compensation, and are using it to shine a positive light on their neighbourhood.

The comedy-thriller from Stephen Merchant, which is returning for a second series, was criticised by people living in Kingsdown’s Dove Street estate for misrepresenting their community.

The area was presented as a meeting ground for drug dealers and criminal gangs.

Compensation of £1,500 has now been paid by the production to the community, with the money being spent on filming documentaries made by residents.

Community leader Bernie Munoz-Chereau said that “the media positioned us in a negative light, so we are going to use this money to tell our own stories”.

Residents are meeting up every week to film their mini documentaries, including many children from the Kingsdown estate – photo: Bernie Munoz-Chereau

Bernie is a popular figure in the Dove Street community, having started a community garden project back in 2020 with other residents, born out of lockdown frustration and a desire to bring the community together – a plan that has clearly been successful.

However, she and other residents were increasingly frustrated that this positive side of the community wasn’t being presented in the films and tv series being filmed on the estate.

“When you watch a series, like The Outlaws, you realise that some stories are not reality,” Bernie told Bristol24/7.

“I think these documentaries are a form of remedy for that, because when you become a filmmaker you can tell your own story.

“I’m seeing lots of benefits from the money from The Outlaws. Even though it can’t be compared to what the industry makes, using it to make our own movies is extremely powerful. Especially in the way we are doing it.

“This is particularly important for youngsters, who up until now have only been the viewers of these stories.”

A PhD student from the University of Bristol is helping teach residents about different types of filmmaking – photo by Bernie Munoz-Chereau

Working alongside Nick Gray, a PHD student at the University of Bristol, residents young and old have been meeting up every week to learn about documentary filmmaking and come up with ideas for their own mini series.

Gray is currently researching how documentary filmmaking can empower people and address social issues within communities, and is providing the people of Dove Street with filming and editing equipment free of charge for their project.

“It appears that the representation of the people of Dove Street is very negative,” he says.

“Whenever a production company approaches the city council wanting to show some gangsters or some drugs, they seem to all too readily grant permission for them to film at the Kingsdown flats.”

Gray says that his project is helping residents to “make their own media narratives to speak back to these dominant narratives”.

“The idea is to give people the skills, techniques and equipment to tell their stories… Hopefully we’re going to have a set of documentaries that we can show to the public, that will show people that they have power.”

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Read more: Residents’ dismay at filming that portrays neighbourhood in a negative light 

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Bernie says that most of the compensation money is still yet to be spent, but so far it has gone towards food for residents during filmmaking workshops and a new community noticeboard to keep residents updated about the project among other events.

Residents held three meetings in December to decide how they wanted the money to be spent. Other ideas included taking children from the estate to the cinema and helping support filmmakers in the local Kingsdown area.

It doesn’t come as much surprise that Bernie has made her documentary about Dove Gardens, the project that brought the community together in the first place and allowed them to voice their concerns about filming on the estate.

Her documentary is called Loving Dove Gardens and is being shown at the Cube – just a stone’s throw away from the garden – on January 31.

Bernie Munoz-Chereau at Dove Gardens – photo: Billy Stockwell

Through the lens of a camera, Bernie says that she has started to see her home in a different way.

“Now I understand why The Outlaws was filmed here,” she says. “When you start thinking as a filmmaker, there’s something about this place that is very beautiful.”

“However, if Bristol is the city for filmmaking, this project is so important as well, to empower its own communities. It’s not just about big producers coming in. It’s about growing your own industry.”

The cross-generational team are hoping to complete all of their documentaries by the spring, when they plan to hold a screening in Bristol to showcase their hard work.

Loving Dove Gardens is being screened at the Cube on January 31 as part of an event celebrating the 80th birthday of Derek Jarman. For tickets and more information, visit cubecinema.com/programme/event/derek-jarmans-80th-birthday-party,12183

Main photo: Bernie Munoz-Chereau

Read more: The Kingsdown gardens bringing a community together 

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