THE WAY WE CREATE | SXSW LONDON 2025
Captured over five days at the inaugural SXSW London, The Way We Create is a docufilm exploring creativity, culture, and community through a personal lens. Filmed entirely on iPhone, it blends cinematic footage with panel audio and reflective voiceovers, documenting not just what I witnessed, but how I processed it.
The festival became a real-time conversation with ideas. From music to tech, business to storytelling, each moment offered insight on making meaningful work in a system that often values trends over truth. The film’s narrative invites viewers into my inner thoughts, showing what resonated, what challenged me, and how I made sense of the influx of ideas.
From crowded panels to quiet corners, live performances to intimate discussions, every moment shaped my perspective and reflected my creative methodology. Using emotional narrative architecture, I layered observation, reflection, and rhythm to create an immersive experience. It is not a recap, but a journey that allows audiences to feel, reflect, and take something away from the intensity and inspiration of the week.
The Way We Create asks an open question: how do we make, process, and understand our creative work? It captures the cadence of five days of insight, exchange, and discovery, leaving space for viewers to consider their own process, practice, and path.
“Congrats on a dope piece of art. Being a Black creative can feel like code-switching on repeat and this film really hit the nail on the head”.
The ENA Framework
Emotion
As well as showcasing the week's events, the film invites the audience into my inner thoughts, revealing what resonates, challenges me, and sparks curiosity. This layer emphasizes reflection, allowing viewers to connect with the experience on a personal and emotional level.
Narrative
The cadence of the week—from panels to performances—shapes the story. By highlighting the flow of ideas and interactions, the narrative layer shows how inspiration, insight, and cultural exchange build over time. It also pays homage to the creative dialogue between London’s East End roots and SXSW’s global perspective.
Architecture
Rather than fragmenting the experience into five separate recap videos, the docu-film format allows the story to breathe. Long-form storytelling gives space for emotion and narrative to unfold, offering viewers the freedom to take what they need, reflect, and absorb the layers of insight and energy. As Munya Chawawa noted in his panel, long-form content is growing in relevance because it allows depth, nuance, and presence to be fully experienced.
