It began with banknotes. Funny money bearing the seal of Brixton. The paper was softer and smoother than your usual British pounds – but it was worth the same amount if you knew where to spend it.
The currency illustrated what we knew all along – Brixton was distinct. A neighbourhood unlike any other in a city unlike any other. Elsewhere in the world, nations newly minted in battle print their own money. Brixton was lucky. It won its currency without going to war.
The idea was born – why stop with the money? Why not go further? Why not have a flag? If the banknotes were good for Brixton, could a flag be better?
We believed Brixton deserved better. We believed that bringing people together was the best way to make Brixton better. We believed that making a flag was the best way to bring people together.
In our search for an ideologue, we turned to Oscar Guardiola-Rivera. A revolutionary thinker and lover of Brixton, who knew what we wanted before we did.
THE FILM – UNFLAPPABLE
Unflappable
Cairo. Tunis. Tripoli. Brixton?
In 2011, the Arab world was seized by revolt. Inspired and unemployed, two friends in south London devised a plan to unite their neighbourhood.
Unflappable is the short film that tells their story. It is also a tribute to Brixton — the only place where their half-baked scheme could get a fair hearing.
Follow filmmakers Will Aspinall and Neil Arun on a misguided adventure through familiar streets.
“First Brixton. Then, the world,” they said.
They gave up at Stockwell.
You’ll be amused. You’ll be confused. Or you may just be UNFLAPPABLE.