WON’T BE DRUV

Michael Smith and Maxy Bianco, 2019

Created by filmmaker, writer and poet Michael Smith, former presenter of the BBC’s Culture Show, and his long term collaborator Maxy Bianco. ‘Won’t Be Druv’ uncovers some of the secrets of Newhaven and explores why this gritty industrial town is a haven for artists, makers and creators.

'Won't be Druv’ is a tribute to my adopted home of Sussex and its proud traditions of free-thinking and creativity, a short film about that old spirit of independence, inventiveness and artistry sprouting up through the cracks of the marginal and forgotten places, in this case in the dockside warehouses of Newhaven.

Though at first glance Newhaven may look unloved and rough around the edges, it has become fertile ground for artists and innovators to work quietly and cheaply below the radar, away from the prying eyes and rising rents that end up stifling this precarious and fragile kind of activity.

At a time when this way of living is being more and more squeezed, it's reassuring to see there's still room for it in places like this. Long it may continue.' - Michael Smith.