High Hopes: Voices from the streets of Lewisham

After more than a decade of intensive council-approved building works throughout the borough, Lewisham resident Stewart Morgan Hajdukiewicz’s documentary film High Hopes takes a snapshot of Lewisham from street level and presents an array of local voices reflecting on the impact of the changes to the built environment.

The film is described as an attempt to give voice to local concerns and aspirations in a borough undergoing significant change:

“Once Lewisham’s massive regeneration projects got the go-ahead, much was made of the promised future, but no-one seemed to take an interest in how the permanent flux of construction might impact local people’s lives in the here and now. High Hopes takes a step towards redressing this imbalance.

“For those currently living in Lewisham the film may reaffirm familiar feelings; for outsiders unacquainted with the plight of Lewisham it may raise eyebrows; for the Councillors and Planning Executives whose ’vision’ for Lewisham is being so faithfully constructed, it is a safari of opinion through their own urban jungle.”

The film was a micro-commission from Clapham Film Unit supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund.