City Eye
Community Archive
Since 1986 City Eye has been telling and sharing the stories of life in Southampton through documentaries and film projects. We have captured moments from people born here, those that have migrated here, those that have passed through and those who call the city home.
Over the coming months and years we hope to build a comprehensive online archive of our past films, igniting memories, raising smiles and representing and celebrating the whole of Southampton.
Over the coming months and years we hope to build a comprehensive online archive of our past films, igniting memories, raising smiles and representing and celebrating the whole of Southampton.
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We have an extensive back catalogue of films and it is important to find routes through it to present our archive in ways that make sense for anyone who might wish to access it.
We start in our 35th anniversary year with a reflection of how Southampton’s racial and ethnic diversity is represented through our projects. With support from Mayflower 400’s Community Heritage fund we will make available films this year that share experiences and celebrate cultural traditions, and ones that shine a spotlight on community leaders innovating in the representation of Black culture and history. We are also committed to exploring how much might be missing… During Southampton Film Week 2020 we presented “‘There’ but not ‘there’”: Challenges of Representation & Diversity in Archive Film; a Southampton Perspective. This reflective and probing screening and discussion explored how underrepresented groups appear (or don’t appear) in archive amateur films. Providing important context to our journey into our archive, it was the start of a conversation that we will ensure continues. |
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Capturing the City
City Eye has long been creating films that document the city and the people in it. Here we share significant interviews with some of Southampton’s residents and cultural leaders, as well as footage from our long partnership with Art Asia and their annual Mela Festival; Southampton’s largest free family event. Don Jon discusses the formation of Southampton's Black & Asian Video Panel. Former City Eye administrator Richard Mclaughlin, tells us how he first got involved in the Southampton Film & Video Cooperative which led to the birth of City Eye and working with the Swaythling Detached Youth Group. |
Projects
City Eye works with community groups and charities across arts, health and youth services to help people tell the stories they want to tell. The process for this may be days, weeks or months of workshops and events with the results varying from documentary and narrative-led films to animation or more abstract moving-image pieces.
City Eye works with community groups and charities across arts, health and youth services to help people tell the stories they want to tell. The process for this may be days, weeks or months of workshops and events with the results varying from documentary and narrative-led films to animation or more abstract moving-image pieces.
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Bollywood Baraat
This event was the culmination of a year’s work in Southampton’s communities and combines live performance with film for a colourful, comic and definitely crowd-pleasing event in Southampton’s Guildhall Square in 2011. |
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Choices
The film was made in and around the estates in Southampton and was supported by City Eye and Southampton City Council Youth Service Central Outreach Team. With a script conceived and developed by the young people taking part in the project, the film aims to tackle this emotive subject from a fresh angle and take a look at a little known aspect of this serious issue. All performances, camera work, and direction was undertaken by the talented cast and crew of young people with mentoring, resources and support provided by City Eye. |
The initial exploration into our archive was funded by a Mayflower 400 community grant as part of a city-wide Mayflower 400 Project.
The anniversary year of 2020 sought to celebrate Southampton, a city and a community, as one built on journeys and migration.
The whole Mayflower 400 Community Programme can be found here.
The anniversary year of 2020 sought to celebrate Southampton, a city and a community, as one built on journeys and migration.
The whole Mayflower 400 Community Programme can be found here.
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