Private Project

Radical Nostalgias

Radical Nostalgias is an experimental documentary that explores histories of anti-fascist activism in London.

  • Mercedes Halliday
    Director
  • Oré Ajala
    Key Cast
    "Model 1"
  • Dami Ojobaro
    Key Cast
    "Model 2"
  • Three Gleave
    Key Cast
    "Model 3"
  • Simonetta Bucciarati
    Key Cast
    "Model 4"
  • Oré Ajala
    Casting
  • 3DMA
    Music
  • Eloise Barr
    Production Assistant
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Experimental, Student
  • Runtime:
    8 minutes 30 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    July 31, 2023
  • Production Budget:
    1,896 GBP
  • Country of Origin:
    United Kingdom
  • Country of Filming:
    United Kingdom
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Super 8
  • Aspect Ratio:
    4:3
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    Yes - National Film and Television School
  • East Bank SEEDED residency showcase
    London
    United Kingdom
    August 1, 2023
    London
  • London College of Fashion
    London
Director Biography - Mercedes Halliday

Mercedes Halliday is an artist, public archaeologist and filmmaker from London. She completed a Postgraduate Certificate in Filmmaking at the National Film and Television School (NFTS), where she was a recipient of a BFI Bursary. Radical Nostalgias is Mercedes' first film, and was first exhibited as part of an installation at UCL East and London College of Fashion.

Mercedes’ art practice encompasses filmmaking, photography, instillation and performance.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

When researching into anti-fascist histories in East London, I discovered that my family history, as well as my personal history, is intricately linked to the East London landscape. I have worked in Whitechapel for years, and only recently found out that I had been walking weekly past the spot my Dad had been stabbed in a racially motivated attack. The film draws inspiration from surrealism and psychogeography, and layers contrasting Super 8 visuals, with the landscape that the attack took place in, with an oral history based dialogue and dance music. The film is critical of the project of memorialisation, and how society often chooses to remember sanitised, romanticised versions of anti-racist activism, omitting the violence that is often integral for social change.