Film to star couples who found love in the 80s: roll up now!

Did you fall in love in the 1980s? Are you still together? Was it a bit of a rocky road? And, wait for it… do you live in Waltham Forest? If the answer to these questions is “yes” or “nearly”, you could star in a new film.

Here’s the story. Artist Dawinder Bansal and musician Martyn Ware (founder of The Human League and Heaven 17) are teaming up to make a new film. It will celebrate the relationships of those who fell in love in the 1980s.

Helen and Deirdre are one of the early couples to join the project.

The film would like to explore how couples had to overcome obstacles to be together and, ideally, it wants to feature couples who are based in Waltham Forest. However, if your story is interesting they still want to hear from you – even if it doesn’t quite fit those criteria.

Bansal hopes to use your photos and other memorabilia in the film – and to turn them into an archive on Instagram. He would then like to film couples talking about their story.  Couples who are shy about appearing on camera can do a voice recording, which will be played over a display of their photos. And Martyn Ware will write a musical soundscape for the film.

The film is part of Waltham Forest Council’s Virtual Culture programme and it will be shared during Leytonstone Loves Film. The hope is that the project will find couples who came together at a time when we didn’t just hook up over a quick swipe on an app.

Dawinder Bansal said, “The 1980s has so much resonance to our current experiences and circumstances as a population. We had a Conservative government, industries were closing and we had high unemployment, we entered a recession, racism was rife, and the world was learning about a new deadly virus. But we still had love. People were falling in love and sometimes in secret, especially if they were gay or interracial relationships. As someone who has never found love myself, I am fascinated by stories of how people find love and stay in love.”

●We Found Love In The 80s is the latest installment of Here and Now, a National Lottery funded project examining communities hopes and dreams that is running across 40 arts centres in England.

●You can find out more about We Found Love In The 80s, and register your interest, at:
https://www.wefoundloveinthe80s.com/
and keep up to date at
https://www.instagram.com/wefoundloveinthe80s.

●Read more about it:
Thought for today
The Thames Today