MerseyNewsLive reviews Almost Liverpool 8
Part way through Almost Liverpool 8, poet Roger McGough says: “Everybody would like to be from Liverpool” and after watching this film, it is easy to see why.
Almost Liverpool 8 is a documentary celebrating the area of Liverpool 8, which is made up of Toxteth, Dingle and Princes Park.
L8 has a community rich in culture and heritage and this film explores all aspects of that.
The film includes images from photographer Don McCullin, who famously photographed Liverpool multiple times during the 1960, 70s and 80s.
He talks about how parts of the area were demolished and it ruined some of the streets, which can be seen in his photos.
Before the decline of the area, after the 1981 uprisings, Liverpool 8 was thriving.
A man who is interviewed early on in the film talks about how at one point on Granby Street there were 72 shops, all family-run, independent businesses, owned by people from all over the world.
The film does an excellent job at capturing the feel of the community and how the people are proud to be from there and celebrate the diversity of their home, and how no matter where you are from or how you identify yourself, Liverpool 8 can be home to anyone.
The film doesn’t explore the 1981 uprisings, referred to by many in the media as the Toxteth riots. Going into detail about them wouldn’t be important to the story that filmmakers Daniel Draper and Allan Melia are telling.
The celebration of diversity is one of the main themes in the documentary and this is shown through interviewing people such as a Jamaican beekeeper, a Norwegian shawarma shop worker and multiple others.
Even though Liverpool 8 is full of people from all over the world, they all have one thing in common, being a Scouser.
The documentary makes a point of showing how the residents of the postcode are just as proud of being a Liverpudlian as they are of their roots.
The film is the perfect response to anybody with a negative perception of L8.
Almost Liverpool 8 gets a 5/5.
