Chris Terrill (Al. 1965-70) has appeared on BBC Four as part of a special retrospective marking the 30th anniversary of Soho Stories, the pioneering documentary series he created in 1996.
Originally conceived as an experiment, Soho Stories set out to explore whether a single filmmaker could film, record sound and direct an entire documentary series alone using the latest digital technology available.
At a time when even documentary productions typically relied on sizeable crews, Chris, drawing on his background as an anthropologist, was asked to immerse himself in Soho for a year with a Sony VX1000 camera and document the community around him. The resulting series offered an intimate portrait of one of London's most distinctive neighbourhoods and its people.
The experiment proved a remarkable success. Soho Stories became a 12-part series and went on to win the Royal Television Society Award for Innovation. It is widely regarded as an important milestone in the development of modern observational documentary-making.
In the new BBC Four programme, Chris reflects on the making of the series, the opportunities presented by emerging digital technology and the lasting impact of the project three decades later. The interview, along with the complete original series, is now available on BBC iPlayer.
(Picture Credit: CREDIT LINE:BBC)