The strapline for Songs For The River tells it all. “Reflections on a Pandemic” pretty much defines the film. The doc, which was shot over a very specific time period, offers a slice of life in which a variety of people living in the same co-operative building express their feelings about Covid and the impact it is having on their lives and emotions.
Over nine months (April 2020 through to January 2021), filmmaker Charlotte Ginsborg filmed in the London housing co-operative of Brandrams Wharf where she lives, situated on the River Thames, looking to chart the residents’ diverse experiences of the pandemic throughout numerous national lockdowns.
The songs refer to the series of singing sessions that the residents engage in, whether by themselves or in larger groups (singing socially distanced, of course) from the multiple levels of their building, and led by Nathan – defined as an ‘Actor and Song Master’ – accompanied on his guitar.
The engaging aspect of the film is that these are ordinary people – albeit very liberal-minded folk living in a rather pleasant riverside haven – simply responding to the developing pandemic on a day-to-day basis. It is a story that at certain times might feel parochial and particular to the issues and politics of the UK, though at the same time the feelings, worries, anger and emotions are universal.
Some in the co-operative – where tenants are equal shareholders and there is no private landlord – experience the illness themselves, while others faced the stress of working on the front line. Each Saturday, they would come together to sing with each other from their communal balconies and walkways, with the songs permeating the film giving a dash of joy and perhaps hope to their lives.
Increasingly frustrated by the government, residents ride an emotional rollercoaster that is reflected in a film wherein the personal and the political interweave. To an extent the doc is a straightforward reportage piece with residents reacting to physical and emotional changes as the whole country reacted to the pandemic.
At the start of Covid, resident Christine says: “It seems calm, people seem calmer. When you go on the streets people say hello”. But as the UK death toll began to spike and lockdowns rolled on, the pandemic takes more of a toll. As landscape gardener and cocktail bar owner Lottie says: “Financially I am screwed…but at least nature is unperturbed by what is going on. There is a collective angst but also a collective calm for some people.”
Some in the building develop Covid symptoms, while others have to isolate for medical reasons. Some work within the NHS and have a different insight, while others worry about their mental health and how the world might emerge, post-pandemic, as a different place.
But as summer 2020 passes and they head into Christmas and New Year the residents of this rather charming building remain united in their sense of community…a group bonding that enabled them to support and help each other (sometimes by singing) through the worrying times.
The building and the backdrop of the River Thames help give the film a keen sense of place, and Ginsborg films her friends, the residents, with compassion and understanding. It is a fascinating glimpse into a very recent period of time this is both intense and provocative. We may want to forget recent months, but it is important to have a record of those dark times.
UK, 2021, 73mins
Dir Charlotte Sonya Ginsborg
Production Arts Council of England
Producers Astrid Edwards, Charlotte Sonya Ginsborg
Cinematography/Editor Charlotte Sonya Ginsborg
Music Jane Watkins
