A new Channel 4 series of short films seeks to dispel the myths surrounding one of Glasgow's most notorious housing estates. Kirstin Innes meets the director
people living here in Glasgow. they will
tell you: “That’s a rubbish place. All the crime. All the drugs.” But. let me be honest with you. I think Sighthill is the best place to be.‘
So begins the first chapter of The Estate. a hugely ambitious. l6—part series of documentary shorts commissioned by Channel 4 for their 3 Minute Wonder slot, filmed entirely on location over a year at the Sighthill Estate in North Glasgow. It’s the first time a series of this size has been commissioned in this slot. or given to one director, and the production company are BAFTA-winners Clarity Productions. but that’s not what makes The Estate one of the most compelling, fascinating television programmes onscreen this year.
You’ve heard of Sighthill. The (now partially demolished) estate occasionally pops up in the headlines for a while, a brief. shocking shaft of visibility before disappearing again. In 2001 it even made the radar of the London-based national news. when a wave of racist violence sparked by the huge influx of asylum seekers to the estate seemingly led to the murder of Turkish Kurd Firsat Dag. Sighthill is only ever ‘notorious’.
‘When I told people I was going to be working on Sighthill for over a year, I got exactly the same sort of reaction the residents say they get when they tell people where they live.‘ says Ruth Carslaw. the director and filmmaker
‘ I fyou mention Sighthill to other local
30 THE LIST 9—23 Jul 2009
behind the project.
‘Usually they give a sort of gasp! Oh my god! That must be terrible for you! And I think that‘s a key point to make: people on the outside look into Sighthill and see what they‘ve heard. and what they’ve heard is old negative stories. And in reality. what I experienced was this incredible, vibrant. really diverse wee
community — there‘s people from hundreds of
countries there. living together. It‘s a working community. and by that I mean it‘s got structure. it’s a support. it’s a comfort to people. And the only hassle I got. in a year of working there every day. was people trying to make me cups of tea all the time.’
However. it‘s also a dying community. The 19- storey tower blocks which at the area's peak housed 7.500 people have been earmarked for demolition: the residents. whether home owners or dependent on social housing. are being evicted and dispersed across the rest of the country. and the first two blocks came down in July last year. Carslaw filmed in there between 2007 and 2008. and that first demolition ends the series. It‘s a ferociously beautiful. almost apocalyptic climax to a series that finds visual and social beauty in an area where almost no- one else would think to look.
‘I wanted to show all these things people don‘t associate with Sighthill.‘ Carslaw says. ‘People keep positive because the community is so strong: this place has impacted on their lives.
has given them chances. One of the women. Angela. from Rwanda. she took me to her window and showed me her “penthouse view“! She survives the Rwandan genocide. comes to Sighthill and finds penthouse vicws!‘
Over the year she was there. Carslaw developed close friendships with many of her subjects (‘One of them sent me a text the other day saying “We’ve finally been rehoused! Come round and have dinner!” she says with a huge. delighted grin). and although her presence behind the camera is almost imperceptible. it‘s clearly benevolent. She offers her subjects a space for their voices to be heard. but it‘s clear she's not interested in exploiting any pain into the sort of ‘misery-porn‘ pieces we‘d normally associate with this sort of subject matter.
The people featured in The Estate belong. almost exclusively. to demographics disregarded by society. The elderly residents like Nessie and Ann (none of the participants in the series use their surnames). not-quite coping with forcible eviction from the homes they‘ve lived in all
‘I WANTED TO SHOW ALL THESE THINGS PEOPLE DON'T ASSOCIATE WITH SIGHTHILL'