Looking Back: Moss Side 2013
1st of August 2013. 6 months after doing the Yemen With Camel journey and the Frozen frontier in Yakutia, the whole family moves to what is considered possibly one of the poorest areas of the UK. Some say Europe. For me as an anglophile it is a dream move. Pam´s off to do her Master studies at Manchester university and I will look after our new born, Dana. Eva will start school at three years of age. We end up in a traditional Victorian style red house with the piping on the outside, no insulation and high costs of electricity, that one pays with a cashcard. We have very little money, very little money, so we fit in well in the area. And like most people, we buy the cheapest food, which very often is cheap meat at ASDA or ALDI or at fast food restaurants. The weather is legendary terrible and oddly enough I feel colder than in Siberia. I have no idea what my future will be like and what my next film project will be like. For me, this is a tough time! Read more at https://www.mikaelstrandberg.com/?s=moss+side
Christmas and New Year 2013. The whole family travels up to Scotland and stays with my old buddy Mick James and his family. It was a nice break for all of us and when the New Year comes, things start heading the right direction. A new documentary idea develops, which will become Man With A Pram, and I am starting to enjoy the social life in and around Moss Side. Lots of great people there and never a boring day as such. I go the pub twice a week, I feel almost like a regular and learn a lot about life in Moss Side. In February I start filming. My Sakha buddy Misha comes from London and spends a few days with us and life starts moving ahead. I need projects to feel alive, no doubt. Dana starts to walk, Eva likes school and Pam her studies. It gets a bit warmer and I decide to use my time being at home with Dana in a progessive way. I want to walk from Moss Side to Buckingham Palace and do a film about the English. Pushing Dana in a pram. But I need a partner. Read more at https://www.mikaelstrandberg.com/?s=moss+side
Springtime 2014. Moss Side.Winter is giving up. There´s no doubt that winter in colder countries, if you are not doing to well financially, is a tough and depressing deal. No wonder there´s alcohol problems. Anyway, spring made life much better and I had decided to do this walk and do this documentary and was lucky to get comissioners to believe in the idea. Due to the documentary and figuering life out in Moss Side, i got to know a lot of really great people. I loved the mixed community with people from all over the world. And the family did well. All I had to do now, was getting the equipment and a new partner, as good as Tanja Holm had been in Yemen. Read it all at https://www.mikaelstrandberg.com/?s=moss+side
