This feature-length film portrays life in the seaside town of Jaywick in the decaying ‘edgeland’ of Essex, officially England’s most deprived place. Pope and Guthrie started working there in 2009 as consultants, seeking ways to improve the public spaces. The research for the film involved deep engagement with the human subjects. Experienced in collaborative projects in challenging contexts, Pope and Guthrie gained the confidence of local people, who were filmed over 18 months, portraying their humanity and rejecting stereotypical portrayals of Britain’s underclass, despite the cycle of misfortune that plagues many in the town. A once-beloved resort of London’s East Enders is now a broken society, with Rachmanesque rental and the benefit squalor of an ineffectual State. An additional dimension is the imminent physical threat to the inhabitants and landscape from rising sea levels, researched in collaboration with climate scientists. An installation version (2013) is part of ‘Climate Changing Stories’ at the Science Museum. A screening and discussion with climate-change-adaptation expert Paula Orr took place in January 2013.
The film was supported by Arts Council England (£62,000), UK Film Council (£13,000) and the Science Museum (£5,000). Jaywick is now a touch-point for references to deprivation, for example The Guardian (2013): ‘Budget 2013: Little hope for aspirations of the country's poorest’; ‘Last year the estate was the subject of Jaywick Escapes, a beautifully filmed but very sad documentary’; Mail Online (2013), with an embedded trailer of the film: ‘Welcome to Misery-by-sea’.
The film was screened at various venues including the East End Film Festival, London (2012) and opened Colchester Film Festival (2012). It was also reviewed and discussed by Bob Stanley for The Guardian (2012) and featured in an article on Jaywick by Simon Usborne for The Independent (2012).