Activism and the Arts: An Interview with Maggie Pinhorn
Director Maggie Pinhorn talks about her vibrant career, and how she found her passion in filming and activism within local communities.
From the glamorous world of Bond films to establishing community filming in the East End, Maggie Pinhorn is a trailblazer of her time. At the age of 77, she has more energy than most, and her captivating voice makes you want to sit down with her in a pub and listen to all the stories she has to tell.
As a director and producer, she has plenty of experience working with the likes of Sean Connery, but her passion lies in working with the community. Her ethos centres on the belief that art can bring about activism and change. “If art doesn’t challenge then it’s not worth it. Art should be critical and speak uncomfortable truths.” She says. “It’s important that people are able to express themselves without fear.”
Early Career: From Commercial to Community
Pinhorn was born during the Blitz in suburban Hendon, London, and her mother always told her it was during an air raid. After living in London for the early part of her life, her family moved to the countryside where she lived on a farm, and could enjoy the freedom of the outdoors.
Pinhorn attended a highly academic school, but had always felt like a misfit. At 18, she left home and went to Central St Martins College of Art to do theatre design, where she found her passion and was surrounded with like-minded people.
When she left school, she got the opportunity to work with Ken Adam in the art department at Pinewood studios. “You may or may not have heard of it but I worked on a James Bond film called You Only Live Twice” she says casually, as if she wasn’t talking about a world-renowned film.
“It was a fantastic experience working on that film, it taught me so much about logistics and the way things work.” She says. “It was incredibly hard work — I had to get up at 6 o’clock every morning and be there absolutely on time. If you were late, you got the sack.”
She recalls fond memories of working with Sean Connery, who has just passed away. “He was such a lovely guy, he had such a good sense of humour and had very humble origins.” She says. “He once called me and said I was required on set urgently, and when I arrived the entire England World Cup football team was lined up in their suits — Sean introduced me to every single one of them like I was an important person.” I say that it must have been intimidating, but Pinhorn says “no, no, it wasn’t scary, it was fun! I personally like to have a lot of fun in my life, I like having a joke — if you can find some fun, have it.”
She describes the struggle she had as a woman breaking into a male-dominated industry. “I discovered that I was the only girl in the art department and in fact in any of the departments. When I inquired if there were any other girls they said yes, there’s one in the library,” she says. “As you can imagine, this was the 60s, it was a whole era of unbelievably sexist behaviour.” She says she later found out she was paid the least in the department, and demanded that they give her a pay rise — which she got.
After working on various film sets she became restless and wanted to embark on her own projects. She was frustrated with not being able to get involved in the editing of films as she was confined to the art department, and being the only woman, she felt like the odd one out. “I didn’t want to be an old credit title, I wanted to make my own movies.” In a very Pinhorn-esque way she says “that’s what I wanted to do, so that’s what I did.”
But Pinhorn wanted more from films than just the commercial side. She says “I would spend time going to various cinemas watching films that were made completely different by independent people, that was very interesting to me. Film is an art form, but it took years for people to recognise it as that.”
She worked on a few films including Dyn Amo, filmed in a Soho strip club, and became a known independent filmmaker in the East End. A youth worker approached her and asked if she would help a group of underprivileged boys make a film. After raising money through the Joseph Rountree Trust, Tunde’s Film was created. The boys acted in the film, and one of them, Tunde Ikoli, co-directed. It was filmed in Stepney within a week. The boys were mostly from minority groups, and Pinhorn saw the film as an opportunity to give them a voice. She says, “This was the early 70s, you can imagine how people like them, particularly black kids and mixed-race kids, did not make films…these voices were not heard.”
“People like those young people weren’t normally on TV… I passionately wanted to do it because of that.” She added.
Pinhorn would come up with innovative ways to teach them life skills such as reading. “I set up a typewriter in the corner and gave them a copy of the Daily Mirror and a bottle of beer. I said when you finish typing out some pages you can finish the beer — it was the best literacy scheme I’ve ever come across.”
The film brings up issues such as race and class that are still relevant 50 years on. Pinhorn explained how most of the film was improvised, and says: “It was clear that nobody was going to learn lines…but that didn’t matter.” This makes many of the film’s moments, such as the iconic cafe scene where the boys talk freely about the disadvantages they have faced in their lives, even more profound. When asked about the scene Pinhorn reflects fondly: “It was an extraordinary scene and I had no idea how it was going to turn out” she says. “They were expressing themselves, it wasn’t me who was telling them what to say, my job was just to enable them to do that and to make a good movie.”
Tunde Ikoli, thanks to his experience gained when co-directing the film, got a job as Assistant Director at the Royal Court Theatre and went on to produce many plays.
Art and Activism
Tunde’s Film was just the start of Pinhorn’s community projects. She went on to create East End Channel One with Tunde, a series of documentaries featuring people in the community. At the heart of her work, Pinhorn believes in giving people from all backgrounds opportunities. She says “ultimately, building strength in communities is critical and what’s important is that those communities do have a serious opportunity to express what they think and feel.”
She has since been involved in multiple community initiatives such as Photomonth, Covent Garden street theatre, and Alternative Arts fashion week. She remains active in the community, and her more recent projects include the Tower Hamlets’ Black History Month online photo exhibition — where anyone could submit their photos. She is the director of Alternative Arts, an organisation that supports local artists to reach their potential. She believes that art can give underrepresented people a voice, and says “that has always been the ethos of Alternative Arts, to expose people and give people new opportunities, there’s not enough of those opportunities around.”
“You don’t have to be from a particular class or background in the film industry, if you’ve got talent, you’ve got talent” she added.
