This funny short film was shot in Camden Town in London in the early 2000’s when the area was still cool. Shot back in the days when filmmakers were experimenting with MiniDV inspired by Steven Soderbergh’s “Full Frontal”, the film captures the essence of Camden Town back in the 2000’s so it is worth watching for this reason alone.

The market, which sprung up out of a run-down timber yard in 1972, is situated in north London. Back then, it was the place for the city counter-cultural movements, including the punks or hippies, as well as the place for independent retailers to sell fresh produce, trinkets, and the quirkiest of fashion, arts and crafts.

I was there in the early 2000’s filming “The death of my agent” and a few years later, around 2010, I moved into a studio apartment up the road from the market in Belsize Park. I lived in the area for a decade before renting in that part of London became a rip off.Literally. 

By the mid 2000’s, I remember seeing Amy Winehouse leaving the Hawley Arms pub or walking in the early hours along the high street while I was on the number 24 bus going home.In recent years, Camden Town has undergone many changes, such as the redevelopment of the Hawley Wharf area and the renovation of Camden Lock Market. The area is now more popular with tourists than locals and attracts around 28 million visitors a year. 

Camden Town has lost its appeal. 170 new luxury homes – of which less than twenty classify as affordable housing- and an area that feels busy, overpriced, polluted, unsafe and unhealthy. Perhaps visitors still find the place unique, but for those of us who know the area for a long time -from the days of “The Death of My Agent”- the place has lost its cool.