New film inspired by The Voice investigation highlights ‘slavery’ on UK fruit farms

A NEW film which was inspired by an article in The Voice, highlighting the ‘slavery’ conditions some Caribbean migrant workers face on UK fruit farms has been made.

The film, Homegrown, was made by Bristol-based film director Corinne Walker, who was inspired by Voice journalist Sinai Fleary‘s investigation into ‘exploitation’ of Caribbean migrant workers on British farms.

The article Strawberry Slavery was published in October 2021, and heard from several workers from Barbados, who said they were used as “slave labour” on strawberry farms in Scotland and Norwich.

Ms Walker told The Voice, she felt compelled to make a film about the investigation to help raise awareness about the conditions migrant workers face.

FILM DIRECTOR: Corinne Walkers says her film was inspired by the Strawberry Slavery article in The Voice Newspaper (Picture Credit: Supplied)

She said: “I had such a strong reaction to reading the article and I just didn’t know about this, I didn’t know it was happening.

“I thought it was shocking and outrageous and it tied into a bigger narrative about Brexit, immigration and Windrush, there was so many themes that it seems to speak to.”

Ms Walker – who started off working as an actor – said she spoke to many people about the issues raised in the article, who also told her they “didn’t know this was happening.”

“Your story got under my skin and I just felt like I had to get the word out even more”, she added.

The filmmaker said she had such “high emotion” after reading the article which prompted her to do more research.

She said she was not aware that workers from Barbados were being recruited on a government-backed scheme to pick fruits in the across the UK.

She said: “I read the article in late 2021 and I started developing this idea then.

“I was selected for a development scheme that is run by the BFI South West called New Voices.”

She said the scheme was for aspiring filmmakers from underrepresented backgrounds, that provided mentoring and training “to apply for BFI short film funding.”

Ms Walker revealed she applied in May 2022 and got the funding in July 2022.

STRAWBERRY SLAVERY: A scene from the film Homegrown exploring how Caribbean migrant workers are treated on UK fruit farms (Picture Credit: Corinne Walker)

She added that she needed to crowdfund to raise additional funds in order to help make the film.

Between August and September 2022, Ms Walker was crowdfunding for the rest of the money and eventually raised £7,000.

Still surprised that she raised the additional money, she said: “I don’t know how we did that but we did it!

“People really connected with the message and the story.

“We wanted to get people to think about who is picking their fruit and ask is it right that they are exploited so we can have things at a cheap price?”

Ms Walker said she had to meet her target with her crowdfund before she was given the funding by the BFI.

During the pre-production stage, she wrote the script and worked with a script-editor to develop the story.

HARD HITTING: A scene from the film Homegrown exploring how Caribbean migrant workers are treated on UK farms (Picture Credit: Corinne Walker)

Ms Walker also hired her team which included cast, costume designer, sound engineers, lighting specialists and other professionals.

During lockdown, Ms Walker started doing more writing and wrote her first short film and produced it with Sophie Freeman – who is also the producer of Homegrown.

The pair worked closely together on the film and looking back at the process, Ms Walker – who caught Covid-19 as she was about to begin filming – said completing the film was a “huge relief.”

She said: “When you are a writer, you have this idea in your head and then you get there on-set and the idea that you had in your head is coming to life and that is the best part of being a director.

“Being on-set working with the actors and working with the whole team bringing your vision to life.”

“Everyone worked hard and were pleasant people to be around,” she said.

Last month, saw the London premiere of Homegrown in Central London and Ms Walker said the reaction to the film so far has been “positive.”

HOMEGROWN: A scene from the film Homegrown exploring how Caribbean migrant workers are treated on UK farms (Picture Credit: Corinne Walker)

She added: “It’s a hard-hitting film, it’s not an easy film to watch in many ways.

“But people have really understood what we are trying to do and have really connected with it

“It has made people think deeply about the systems that we have in place in the country and the way that we are treating seasonal agricultural workers and seasonal workers in general.”

Ms Walker said she plans to get the film distributed so the public can see it.

She said: “We have already submitted it to some film festivals, so are waiting to know where and when it will be selected.

“When we made the film the intention was to raise awareness of this issue.

“I’m going to be looking to get it out to the public as soon as possible, we will be doing screenings and we will put it online.

“I want the workers to be able to watch it and feel like they are being heard.”

Ms Walker is also a performer and producer and works in theatre and film and is passionate about telling stories from Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour (BIPOC) perspectives.

You can watch the official trailer of Homegrown here: