One Mile Away, 2012
Directed by Penny Woolcock.
SYNOPSIS:
A documentary exploring gang tensions in inner city Birmingham and the attempts by two notorious gangs to bring peace to their neighbourhoods.
This intriguing and effective documentary charts two years in the life of Birmingham’s urban sprawl; a tense and at time frightening place, particularly if you happen to get caught in a standoff between two potentially violent street gangs.
Woolcock approached the subject off the back of her fiction film 1 Day (2009), a movie that starred Dylan Duffus, a Birmingham resident and member of local gang the Burger Bar Boys. The two stayed in touch, and following contact from Shabba, an affiliate of rival gang the Johnson Crew, a documentary centring on the gangs’ uneasy truce was proposed.
A fascinating and thoroughly deserving recipient of the Michael Powell Award at 2012’s Edinburgh Film Festival, it is great to see documentaries as richly thought provoking as One Mile Away given the chance to reach a wider audience. It is after all, a film that might just make a youngster think twice before embarking on a downward curve of violence and street crime.
However, there is more to this film than merely high morals. Woolcock captures the tension of the cit y experience marvellously well and one never gets the sense that her subjects are exaggerating or playing up for the camera. For the most part, they are a surprisingly eloquent bunch – putting into words a world that few of us have much of a reason to enter into.
Turf war and American style gang warfare had blighted the streets of Birmingham for at least 20 years. Woolcock’s film is a brave attempt to bring some sense of rationality to the realities of street life and even manages to bring some hope into those suffering from disrupted childhoods and ruined dreams.
Another important aspect of the boys and men in the gangs is the power of music. The soundtrack, put together by the wonderfully named Urban Monk, showcases some of the rapping ability of those involved. If there was any doubt about the kind of life they lead, it is swiftly erased upon hearing their imaginative and sharply constructed rhymes.
Two major UK events almost bookend the discussions in the film, and clearly call to attention just how serious Birmingham’s problems were and potentially could be again. The first were the deaths of two teenage girls shot outside a New Year’s party in 2003. The second were the UK riots of August 2011, which had London roots but rapidly spread to Birmingham and elsewhere.
It was during that summer of 2011 that the genuine inter-gang discussions took place and senior members agreed that enough was enough. A truce was called. One hopes, for the individuals involved and for the city itself, that it remains held.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: N/A
Robert W Monk is a freelance journalist and film writer.
Originally published March 27, 2013. Updated April 11, 2018.
