Georgina Colman (Director):
Hello! A condensed version of my experience at the London Rebellion.
Our research had been pushing the film towards Extinction Rebellion and I felt strongly that we couldn’t make a film about Extinction Rebellion without attending this protest. Having attended two protests already in Truro and Bristol and the Action in Perranporth (see our last blog post Deck Chair Disaster) I felt that I had gained so much understanding from being in these places with these people and I really wanted the crew to have that experience. So we decided to go to London, primarily for research but with the added bonus of having the kit we needed to get valuable footage.
We traveled to London on the National Express, around 06:30 we were talking about the day to come, and naturally it turned towards Extinction Rebellion. The Shell talk on campus from the week before came up and Charlie filled us in, which then lead to politics. A man who was sitting behind us who had gotten on the bus around Plymouth (I believe?) had been listening to us talk and decided to get involved, I was worried at first that we’d get a lecture somewhere along the lines of ‘you kids don’t know what you’re talking about’ but I was proven wrong. He told us that he was on the way to London for the International Rebellion too. I can’t remember exactly what he said but I remember he was nice to us and had really interesting things to say. I remember thinking that it was another sign that we were on the right path.
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Sunrise, Victoria Coach Station.
Arrived bright and early at Victoria Coach Station around 07:00 to a pink sunrise. Red sky in the morning, shepard’s warning. Headed to our first rendezvous point, Pret and Maccies. So we could get breakfast and meet Sam. Once the crew was reunited we did the team briefing and safety talk. We made everyone write each of the team leaders’ phone numbers on their arms, along with the Green and Black’s solicitor’s phone number (specialists in protest law). We all did this because in the unlikely event of someone getting arrested (not our plan at all!) or separated from their phone, we would have all the phone numbers we needed. Each team had a walkie talkie.
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International Rebellion planned sites.
My team, Team A headed to the Lambeth Bridge area. This was where XR SW and XR Faith were based. We arrived around 09:15ish, with the rebellion officially beginning at 10:00 we figured that being there earlier would be better because we could be there to see how things kicked off. When we arrived, there were police vans with police sitting inside waiting.
There was a banner held out across the left lane over Lambeth bridge. They had already stopped traffic from entering the bridge from our side at least. We could hear drumming, on the other side of the banner there was a band. A group of people sat around in a rough circle using the instruments to hold the road.
We followed the band and watched them use their playing as a tactic to claim more of the bridge. Other Affinity groups actively charged ahead and shut down the other lane, others took different segments of a giant statue of a man, we saw the police carrying off a whole arm, as it was carried away the palm of the hand was facing upwards with it’s fingers grasping at the sky.
Eventually both lanes were taken. And people started spreading themselves across the roundabout. A structure was built, activists climbed on it to prevent it being taken down and sang to the crowds. There was even someone using a conch to join in.
We went for lunch, debriefed from the morning. We decided that all teams needed to aim to get at least two interviews in the afternoon.
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Interview with Eddy and Greg at We Are All Crew site.
We went back to our spots, my group went back to talk to Eddy and Greg from XR Bristol at the XR We Are All Crew site, we then went down to XR Peace where there was a panel of sorts with a live Q&A with climate scientists. There was a lorry with an individual on the top of it holding a sign. Below there were activists chained to the lorry with police stood around them. We met a woman from the wellbeing tent and she was carrying her baby and food packs to offer to all the rebels who had chained themselves to the lorry. These individuals were hidden by umbrellas. We had then lost track of the woman, so we decided to film the panel instead. The person leading it finished up the questions stating that the police had gotten involved with the Q & A and invited them to continue to do so.
Our batteries were running out for sound so we took shelter from the rain and we went into a café Nero porch way so Carl could swap the batteries over. We then headed back to the Lambeth bridge site. While we had been gone the site had become a village of sorts with stalls offering free food to the public. Ben got a free meal, so we filmed his and Carl’s crew interviews here. I also used this opportunity to use the camera to get a cut-away that I wanted, including some XR Faith flags blowing in the wind with the river Thames in the background.
The day was filled with memorable moments, one that particularly stands out to me is when a cook from the food tents came down to the park to collect water from the water pump in the play area. She filled the barrel with water whilst some of the kids ran around her, they ran back and forth over a musical platform that played notes when you put weight on them. The atmosphere that this created was much stiller and it felt like a safe haven, providing respite from the chaos happening on the other side of the wall, where multiple arrests were happening. It was poignant. I got Carl to record the sound that is made while other kids ran across it.
We bumped into Issy, one of the second years helping us out. I made her take a cereal bar which in hindsight, a bit weird. But I wanted to make sure everyone was eating haha. (If you are reading this Issy shout out to you for taking that cereal bar and making me feel like I was helping)
Not long after we decided to move down the park to see what was happening towards Westminster Bridge. Around the midpoint of the park on the road outside their was another action taking place. They were blasting music (Come Together by The Beatles at one point) and their drumming band had been re-energised. A meditation circle had set themselves up just inside the park. They had a Tibetan bowl that they were burning incense in. It was interesting to see this meditation happening so close to the protest.
I gave Ben and Carl some chocolate and let them do their thing. I sat down in the pavilion thing in the park to gather myself. I phoned the Mollie to ask how team B was getting on. They had split off from Becky and were going to reconvene before meeting up with our team at the park. We decided to get everyone to the park. With our walkies collectively dying and energy across all the groups wearing thin, it made sense to regroup and do a temperature check and see how everyone was doing and what we had in terms of footage.
When everyone came together I got the crew to do a talking/listening circle to ensure that everyone got to say what they needed to say. I hoped that this would allow for the crew to decompress and release some of the stress from the intense day (something you might not believe if you’ve seen the clip of the crew jumping around in the park). I went around the group and asked everyone to say how they felt the day went, how they were feeling in terms of energy levels and if there is anything left that they wanted to get. We decided to call it a day. On the walk back, we heard folk music and there was dancing happening. Ben, Sam and I stopped to get some footage. It was getting dark and in the background the London Eye was lit up. The sense of community was overwhelming. It was atmospheric and exactly the kind of moment that we had come to capture. Everyone was friendly and welcoming.
Dinner at Wagamamas, Spoons for a drink, then the National Express back to Falmouth at 23:00. In theory being back in time for any 9ams!
London was an invaluable experience which taught me so much. So thankful for the work and company of the fab crew and all the interesting people that we got to meet in London.
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