This film is part of Free
The Market
Boy meets girl - sifting through the tat and treasure of London’s Portobello Road market.
Overview
A couple’s cute flirtation turns sour during a day spent sifting through the tat and treasure of Portobello Road market. The film is an impressionistic story of love and sexual violence, which meanders playfully, melancholically, menacingly along Notting Hill’s busy streets and alleys. Over time it’s inherited a documentary-drama quality, revealing the lives of yesteryear’s hawkers and traders.
The film was shot over several weekends by aspiring amateur director Ron Porter and an enthusiastic gang of friends and volunteers, all hoping to break into the film business. Although this would be Porter’s only film, it did provide a start for some of the crew: Nike Arrighi found roles with Hammer, and her sister Luciana made a career in art direction - later winning two nominations and an Oscar - for Howards End (1992).
Related
Portobello Market Portobello Market
Amateur film 1980 1 mins Location: Notting Hill
Browse the labyrinth of countless colourful stalls and grab yourself a bargain at 1980s Portobello Market
Notting Hill Carnival Notting Hill Carnival
Amateur film 1976 2 mins Silent Location: Notting Hill
Music, dancing and community characterise this short film from Notting Hill Carnival, 1976.
Portobello Road Market - Personal Film - C1954 Portobello Road Market - Personal Film - C1954
Amateur film 1964 1 mins Silent Location: Notting Hill
Find bric-a-brac and trinkets galore in this vividly colourful snapshot of Portobello Road Market.
Carnival of Tears Today Special Carnival of Tears Today Special
Current affairs 1976 29 mins Location: Notting Hill
Special edition of the current affairs series Today about the planning of the Notting Hill Carnival and clashes with police.
Playing the Environment Game Playing the Environment Game
Documentary 1973 29 mins Location: Euston Sta
In Covent Garden, Notting Hill and Tolmers Square in London, campaigners challenge property developers' plans
Notting Hill Reel 3, Notting Hill (1966) Notting Hill Reel 3, Notting Hill (1966)
Amateur film 1966 4 mins Silent Location: Notting Hill
Fascinating scenes of street life in Notting Hill in the 1960s, showing empty roads, old pubs, rubbish-strewn streets and graffiti.
Getting it Back: The Story of Cymande - Q&A Getting it Back: The Story of Cymande - Q&A
Inside Film 2024 22 mins
The director of a documentary about British funk pioneers Cymande joins the band at BFI Southbank to talk about the film.
The West Case The West Case
Action and Adventure 1923 28 mins Silent Location: Tilbury
Plotting world domination, Devil Doctor Fu-Manchu steals plans for a new aero-torpedo in this earliest surviving thrill-a-minute serial instalment.
Enter the Scala!!! Enter the Scala!!!
Inside Film 2024 16 mins
Filmmakers Jane Giles and Ali Catterall discuss their documentary Scala!!!, revisiting the legendary and inspirational cinema venue and some of the most notorious films that screened there.
Smith Smith
Charity appeal 1939 10 mins
Long thought lost, this Powell-directed promotional short for a veteran’s charity was only rediscovered in 2003.
An Airman's Letter to His Mother An Airman's Letter to His Mother
Documentary 1941 6 mins
A poignant, stirring letter from a recently deceased pilot to his mother is read by John Gielgud.
The NHS75 Celebration The NHS75 Celebration
Short documentary 2023 3 mins
Former Bristol Poet Laureate, Miles Chambers reads a poem specially commissioned for the 75th anniversary of the NHS.