Director: Penny Woolcock
Starring: Dylan Duffus, Matthias Thompson (Shabba), Jonathan Powell
Running time: 90 minutes
Certificate: 15
Synopsis: Penny Woolcock investigates violent tensions between opposing gangs in Birmingham and how two contrasting members try to stem the hatred.
Back in 2009, Penny Woolcock directed the Hip-Hop musical 1 DAY, following the life of an inner-city hustler. What better way to follow-up that story than with a documentary confronting the real-life violence which inspired the fictional story.
ONE MILE AWAY documents the tensions between two opposing Birmingham-based gangs: the Burger Bar Boys (B21) and the Johnson Crew (B6). While filming 1 DAY, Woolcock developed a trusting friendship with Dylan Duffus (part of the B21 gang – also starred as Flash in the original musical) and members of his ‘opposition’. With violence spreading throughout the neighbourhood, Dylan decides to use Penny’s close relationship with both sides to try and build a bridge between the groups, with hopes that fewer lives would be lost. After agreeing to help, Penny introduces Dylan to Shabba, a member of the Johnson crew. The documentary, mostly filmed by Woolcock, follows the two men (and two gangs) over two painstaking years to try and create a neutral environment over the two Birmingham postcodes.
The most impressive element of ONE MILE AWAY is its uniqueness. We’ve all seen ‘gang-based’ dramas and ‘true story’ narratives, but this documentary really hits home. Woolcock confronts multiple members of each gang with the same question: why so much violence? So much violence that one young man is stabbed during the filming period, while Dylan’s mother’s house is attacked because of his involvement with the film. With footage from the 2011 Birmingham carnival (which involved a shooting), the 2011 riots and various meetings between Shabba and Dylan, the film’s quick pace takes us from moment to moment, with little time to reflect on what’s gone wrong. While Dylan doesn’t have any trouble finding B21 members to help out, it takes nearly a year for Shabba to find even one B6 member to agree to be interviewed. As one affiliate describes it: ‘This ain’t California‘. It definitely isn’t.
As Woolcock tries to keep filming as neutral and real as possible, she can’t help but be drawn into the trouble. With close-up, in-your-face accounts of trouble with the police, the team are even questioned by officers at certain points in the narrative. And, sadly, in the words of Dylan: ‘If you’re black, you’re guilty until proven innocent‘.
With a story that everyone has seen before and footage that makes you feel as if you’re part of the action, ONE MILE AWAY leaves you feeling angry and disheartened for a generation just beginning to blossom. An eye-opening account of life in modern Britain.
ONE MILE AWAY is out now on a limited release and will air on Channel 4 later this year. You can book tickets here.
