The Guardian understands that the film, simply titled Grenfell and with a runtime of 24 minutes, is without words or music, and sees the “camera relentlessly circle the council block, often at close quarters, allowing viewers to see into rooms where people died and white-suited forensic investigators sifting evidence.”
McQueen filmed the tower in December 2017, before scaffolding was erected.
“I feared once the tower was covered up it would only be a matter of time before it faded from the public’s memory,” McQueen said in a statement. “In fact, I imagine there were many people who were counting on that being the case. I was determined that it never be forgotten. So, my decision was made for me. Remember.”
(Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)
The fire at Grenfell Tower killed 72 people in June 2017. Grenfell has been dedicated to them, the bereaved and the survivors, McQueen added.
In 2020, McQueen’s project faced backlash from the The Grenfell Next of Kin support group, made up of immediate family members of 33 victims of the fire. They said they were “totally disenfranchised” by McQueen’s Grenfell, with a statement from them at the time reading: “The biggest issues for us have been: who has appropriated our tragedy, and who gets to tell our story?”
Now, a statement from the Grenfell project addressing those concerns, says: “McQueen has been in conversation with Grenfell bereaved and survivor groups and individuals from the wider community at different times over the past five and a half years. Serpentine and Steve McQueen have engaged in these discussions so that Grenfell is delivered sensitively and with the considerations of bereaved and survivors at the forefront.”
Grenfell has been self-funded by the Turner Prize and Academy Award winning McQueen.
Speaking to The Guardian, he said: “You must understand that the violence that was inflicted on that community was no joke. I didn’t want to let people off the hook. There are going to be people who are going to be a little bit disturbed. When you make art, anything half decent…there are certain people you will possibly offend. But that is how it is.”
