Cockney: Regeneration

© 2010 Daniele Rugo & Abi Weaver. All Rights Reserved.

‘Cockney: Regeneration’ is a documentary that explores the evolution of the Cockney dialect and the regenerations of the East End of London over the last century.

Through evocative images the documentary will seek to capture the processes of regeneration in view of the Olympic Games in 2012 and the recent improvements to environment and services. The film will also describe the social, demographic and architectural transformations that have shaped the East End.

The aim is not only to record an important part of British heritage, but to interrogate and project the contemporary perception of the East End of London, now the cultural hotspot of the Capital.

Emphasis will be put on the development and regeneration of the East End as a cosmopolitan and inspirational area open to innovation, with a diverse community, a shared sense of citizenship, social responsibility and environmental consciousness.
The work will focus on sites such as Billingsgate Market, Columbia Road Flower Market, Spitalfields, Brick Lane, Leyton Orient F.C, pie and mash shops around Hackney, White Cube art gallery and other heritage sites in the East End of London.

The narrative will progress through a series of interviews with personalities such as Lord Alan Sugar and Steven Berkoff, and by way of a number of personal stories. The latter will aim at engaging the general public in the role of storyteller. The film will trigger a dialogue between the generations who have lived through the renovation of the East End and the evolution of the Cockney dialect with the aim to explore the relationship between heritage and renovation.

‘Cockney: Regeneration’ invites the audience to be taken on a jouney through the metamorphoses of the East End.