London’s Screen Archives enables Londoners see their past come alive on film. Managed by Film London, we are a unique network of historic film collections that cares for, collects and screens heritage film across the city. Together we preserve London’s rich film heritage from feature films to home movies, public information films, newsreels, and records of the capital’s many different industries.
This film is part of Free
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_480x270/public/hero-images/7de89f4fa32653e60b8a6e8c06cb4b32.jpg?itok=QEfZHpm4)
Thamesmead 1968
A short film celebrating the planning and construction of Thamesmead in south-east London, envisaged as a utopia for modern living.
From the collection of:
![Logo for London's Screen Archives](/sites/default/files/styles/association/public/association-logos/FL_LSA_Master_Logo_Blue_RGB_v1.png?itok=KdoBhpfA)
Overview
Directed by Jack Saward, who would make several more films about the estate, this film offers an overview of the history and construction of Thamesmead as it neared completion. The narrator discusses the way recreation, leisure and work are all built into the plan, which would feature a variety of modern housing, an "international yacht harbour", space for private enterprise and a focus on water and the river. Made by the GLC.
The tone is upbeat as we hear of the planners’ good intentions and see clips of construction and people at work, home and play. The film is keen to demonstrate a consistency with London’s past – a city built on its river –and also to emphasise that Thamesmead would be part of the wider London, not a new town marooned on the fringes. The ambition is commendable but it didn’t quite work in practise, with Thamesmead becoming a notoriously problematic estate and its architects perceived as exhibiting many of the faults of post-war planning, with communities being tinkered with from above like a real-life experiment. This is where utopia meets authoritarianism.
Related
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/3122822eb3ec4454dc5e9270b96c2cfe.jpg?itok=bIpmnFQM)
Thamesmead 1970 Thamesmead 1970
Documentary 1970 25 mins Location: Thamesmead
The utopian ideals of post-war planning are encapsulated in this absorbing film about the plans for the oft-derided GLC estate of Thamesmead.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/Shoot-Your-Shot-02.jpg?itok=KREdlpBS)
Shoot Your Shot Shoot Your Shot
Drama 2022 12 mins
An emotional stand-off takes flight, as teen best friends Ronit and Brennan come to terms with navigating that fuzzy feeling in their stomachs, all whilst learning to skateboard.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/%25E2%2580%258ELook-Like-You-02.jpeg?itok=2R3w9luT)
Look Like You Look Like You
Drama 2022 13 mins
While visiting the adoptive family of her eight-year-old biological son, Tara relays advice she gathered from growing up as a queer outcast.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/Yellow-04.jpg?itok=Bt5NDkC8)
Yellow Yellow
Drama 2023 13 mins
In Taliban controlled Afghanistan, Laili walks into a Chadari store in Kabul to buy her first full body veil from a Talib shopkeeper and face a new future.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/NEHEMICH-02.jpg?itok=ba9fjUy4)
Nehemich Nehemich
Drama 2023 23 mins
Banished in a dilapidated village hut during her menstruation, a young girl waits to elope with her lover.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/1717526943-default-ovp-poster-image.jpg?itok=Fk8VLsGa)
Interview with Pam Cullen Interview with Pam Cullen
Inside Film 2020 53 mins
Interview with Pam Cullen who at 97 boasts an incredible career spanning over fifty years in the Indian film industry.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/landscape_32x18/public/hero-images/muscleqanda.jpg?itok=8sw22r7R)
Muscle - Exclusive Q&A Muscle - Exclusive Q&A
Short interview 2024 34 mins
Director Gerard Johnson talks Nia Child through the making of Muscle, an adrenalized drama that tears into the stereotypes of masculinity and male friendship.