Having recently lost my mother to cancer, I realised there was much of her life I knew nothing about. I didn’t know what her youthful hopes and dreams were, how she socialised with friends as a teenager in the 1950s or with my dad before they settled down and had four children.

 

I knew little of the difficulties that a white woman, dating and then marrying a black man might face in 1960s Notting Hill. This inspired me to find out more about the young lives of women from her generation, some of whom might have had similar experiences. The Covid-19 pandemic gave the project a greater sense of urgency as we saw the world rapidly losing hundreds and thousands of its elders. Recording their voices and listening to their stories seemed more important than ever.

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As I learnt more of these intrepid and fearless women and plotted a timeline through their lives, I became increasingly aware of the pivotal events they lived through and wanted to highlight the dramatic changes in society during their lifetimes.

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Fearless started life as a short film called, When I Was A Younger. The short featured four women and the constant feedback we received is that people wanted to hear more, that the women deserved a feature-length platform. Viewers loved the warmth and humour of the interviewees, and their memories resonated with people of all ages. These six fearless women will do the same.

 

Noella Mingo