Hitchcock’s East End was a season of screenings and unique events that celebrated and explored Alfred Hitchcock’s connection to Waltham Forest.
In a corner of Leytonstone, next to a petrol station, sits a plaque that commemorates the birthplace of one of the greatest film directors of the 20th century. Walking through the borough there is little to hint at the legacy of the great man, yet could a re-evaluation of this suburban landscape uncover new perspectives on his work?
Launched in September 2013, Create has worked with Barbican Film to produce a season that brought the suspense, adventure and glamour of Hitchcock’s films back to the place that was perhaps their original inspiration. Staging screenings in a selection of unexpected locations, the gothic, enigmatic and eccentric elements of the borough were explored, which may have unconsciously inspired the great man.
Alongside screenings of the films, established film-makers were asked to introduce the Hitchcock classics that most inspired them, inviting audiences to explore and re-imagine the suburban landscape of his childhood.
This project formed part of a programme of events that lead towards the opening of the new Empire Cinema in late 2014 – returning a cinema to the borough after a ten year absence – which formed part of a major regeneration project, The Scene at Cleveland Place, a new leisure destination for Waltham Forest.
Past events in the season:
VERTIGO
St Margaret’s Church, September 2013
Download illustrated map
REBECCA
Leytonstone School , December 2013
Download illustrated map
THE BIRDS/THE LADY VANISHES
Vestry House Museum, March 2014
BLACKMAIL
Walthamstow Assembly Hall, July 2014
NORTH BY NORTHWEST
The WaterWorks Nature Reserve, September 2014