#158

Fouad has worked as the manager of Cafe Diana for over 25 years. The cafe, based in Notting Hill, is a homage to the late Princess Diana.
1000 LONDONERS
This film is part of 1000 Londoners, a five-year digital project which aims to create a digital portrait of a city through 1000 of the people who identify themselves with it. The profile contains a 3 minute film that gives an insight into the life of the Londoner, as well as their personal photos of London and some answers to crucial questions about their views on London life. Over the course of the project we aim to reveal as many facets of the capital as possible, seeing city life from 1000 points of view.
www.1000londoners.com
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Twitter @1000_Londoners
Instagram @1000_londoners
1000 Londoners is produced by South London based film production company and social enterprise, Chocolate Films. The filmmakers from Chocolate Films will be both producing the films and providing opportunities to young people and community groups to make their own short documentaries, which will contribute to the 1000 films. Visit www.chocolatefilms.com
TRANSCRIPT
So I remember when I was a kid at primary school they asked “what’s your dream in the future?”
I was always dreaming to be an actor or to be a solicitor.
And they always asked me why. I said because an actor could talk without thinking about it, and a solicitor comes into the court, talks and talks and talks but has no feelings about what he’s talking about. So only pass by pass by. But that’s a dream that never came true.
How long have I been working here? Since 8 o’clock in the morning!
The owner and I are two close friends. I don’t feel like he’s the owner I feel like I’m the owner and I feel like I am responsible for everything. Even sometimes if I go to the toilet and I’ve seen that it is dirty, if they’re busy I could do it I don’t mind. I remember once early in the morning a lady came here, a pretty woman, but looked like she was either drunk or a bit lost and she started talking to the Princess Diana picture and she was telling her “why don’t you love me I love your son, I’d like to marry him, I’d be a nice daughter-in-law”. And then I said “ah this is another day, another crazy woman in the morning”.
The strongest memory is Princess Diana, I still remember her when sometimes at lunchtime you are serving the people and you look to see the queue and then you see someone at the end of the queue - Princess Diana waiting at the end of the queue to get her cappuccino.
People come and sit and cry and even now, there are people who come in every year, to come put flowers outside and sit and talk about Diana. So they will never forget her, they will never…for me she is still alive.