The Notting Hill Carnival Launch 2025

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By KitKat Brown

The Notting Hill Carnival is an iconic lively street festival in London. Meant to highlight and celebrate Caribbean culture, the carnival is an electric event that includes parades, music & dance, food, art, and much more.

One very important part of the carnival is the lineup of Masquerade Bands, or Mas Bands. Each registered mas band walks the parade route at the carnival and creates their own costumes, with a winning mas band announced on social media. The general public is able to register with any mas band and purchase a costume to join in. This year, the Notting Hill Carnival is very important to Paddington Arts. Since first being involved with the carnival in 1996, Paddington has always participated within a partnership. This is the first year that Paddington Arts is registered as an individual mas band at the NHC. In order to promote registration with Paddington Arts, Deputy Director Eldora Edward and her team organized the Notting Hill Carnival Launch, held onsite at Paddington Arts on Sunday, March 23. The launch showcased the fantastic carnival costumes, commissioned through a local designer known as Miracle Precious. Beyond that, the launch itself was a vibrant and festive gathering, with food and musical performances that created an enjoyable and buzzing environment.

Before the launch, I was able to take a look at the costumes as they were being made. Eldora explained to me that Precious individually attaches each jewel to the costume pieces; Precious practices very serious, intricate work, and it all came to life at the launch. I was very moved after seeing Precious’ costumes on the mannequins, so I was thrilled to have the opportunity to interview her, alongside Paddington Arts social media manager Karina Saniuk, at the launch.

Precious described the creative process of fashioning these dazzling costumes: “The creative process is very long. It starts off with sketching first, and research. When I design my costumes I like to have a story behind it.” Precious drew concepts from the Ashanti tribe in Ghana as inspiration for these costumes. The embellished beading on the costume pieces is meant to mimic Kente, which is a type of colorful fabric made in Ghana. These majestic ensembles are a testament to the history and ancestral stories of the Ashanti tribe, with the costumes themselves a proud display of brilliance and regal power.  

Precious recalled her favorite part of designing the costumes: “Making them…And seeing them come to life. Obviously I have my costumes on my mannequins, but when you see my models modeling them, it’s a whole different concept. They bring the concepts to life.” Indeed, the models who performed at the launch definitely gave the costumes the meaning and spirit that they are meant to evoke. Their personas shone through and their bodies moved with the rhythm of the music, creating an inspiring representation. Overall, the Notting Hill Carnival Launch at Paddington Arts was filled with excitement, community, and joy. The display of the costumes was sure to have many folks register with Paddington as their Mas Band.

Where to Find Undiscovered Talent in London By: Lauren Avila

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If you visit any tourist spot in London, or perhaps a busy tube station, you are sure to spot a busker putting their best foot forward. They want to be noticed, they want to share their talent, and they want you to help them do that. In any profession, it takes hard work, commitment, and confidence to know that you have what it takes to be successful. Busking is no different. 

 

Creative artists throughout London are making their dreams a reality simply by having the courage to show their talent. In the halls of the London Bridge tube station there is a one man band performing Caribbean music, a poet in Trafalgar Square sharing sonnets created on the spot, a magician in Leicester Square striving to amuse the public, an accordion player outside Warren Street tube station, and an acrobat in Covent Garden putting every ounce of physical effort into their performance. The list can go on and on with artists of all kinds, including the painter, the violinist, and the singer doing the same thing. They are pursuing their dream one stage at a time, regardless of where that stage is and who is watching. 

 

Of course, it isn’t always easy. 

 

There is still a big hurdle to have to overcome in order to get to the next step. It is important to not lose focus. There is a phrase that originated here in England, yet it is plastered on merchandise across the world: “Keep Calm & Carry On.” It is true that one must carry on despite hardships and challenges. Sometimes perseverance and commitment speaks even more than talent alone. 

 

Gathering all the courage one has and putting themself in the center of the public’s attention for the sake of a dream is not limited to the streets either.

 

At the Top Secret Comedy Club on Drury Lane, you can find comics who test their new material on an audience. I can hardly imagine many more terrifying tests to put yourself through. I recently saw two comics, Katie Green and Evaldas Karosas, doing this very experiment and were vulnerable enough to take feedback in real time. As it turns out, their reactions to our reactions were just as entertaining as their material. 

 

Suffice to say, it was an opportunity for growth which we can all use yet some are more afraid than others to put into practice. Bravo to those complete professionals who do!

Another example includes Zemphy, an Irish singer and guitarist, who used to busk on the streets of London. She now has a residency at Amazing Grace London where she puts on a show of 90’s & 00’s hits. 

 

There are artists who recently introduced their work and also sold their art during the Print Fair at Somerset House for a few days. They are making their dreams a reality while facing the public right in front of them. 

 

It goes without saying that success is subjective. I believe that success happens when a person goes from dreamer to doer, even if they never become a household name.

 

There are plenty of success stories in the London arts scene if you look for it. Go out and explore. It will not take long to find someone who could be the next Vincent Van Gogh or the next Ed Sheeran. 

 

Jim Onyemenam on Filmmaking, AI, and Advice for Aspiring Filmmakers

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By Peyton Harvey

Jim Onyemenam is a runner, assistant director, and digital content creator who has served numerous roles on film, television, music video, and commercial sets. As a lifelong film enthusiast, Onyemenam’s love for filmmaking stems from the 2001 film The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings, after watching the film’s DVD featurette. However, Onyemenam’s road to a career in the entertainment industry was not so straightforward. He moved to the United Kingdom from Nigeria at sixteen years old and attended university on a work visa, limiting his potential areas of study. Thus, Onyemenam studied law for three years and graduated, working in financial audit for two years before leaving to pursue a master’s in legal philosophy. During his master’s, Onyemenam worked in the university’s student center for another two years before finally breaking into the industry. However, Onyemenam’s creature pursuits were far from non-existent during this nearly ten-year period. After leaving his financial audit job, Oneymenam made his first short film, an entirely independent project shot with his iPhone on a fifteen-pound budget. He was consistently creating, working on screenplays and short films during his free time, with projects featured in the Southampton International Film Festival, Austin Film Festival Screenplay Competitions, and LiftOff Sessions. His work was even shortlisted for the Academy Nicholl Fellowships.

Oneymenam’s career in the entertainment industry shifted dramatically through his involvement with the Media Trust & ScreenSkills mentoring programs and the RED Diary Service Action for Allyship scheme. The Media Trust & ScreenSkills mentoring program is dedicated to partnering industry mentors with aspiring industry professionals. Through this program, Oneymenam was partnered with a commercial producer at ITV, who provided him with his first opportunity to be on a professional commercial set and eventually put him in touch with RED. The RED Diary Service Action for Allyship scheme, dedicated to connecting industry newcomers to existing professionals and opportunities, helped submerge Oneymenam even further into the professional world. Today, he works as a professional runner and assistant director on television shows, feature films, commercials, and music videos. On the side, Oneymenam continues to create, directing music videos and short films.

Oneymenam is breaking into the entertainment industry at a transformational moment. New technologies are driving considerable changes to the industry’s operations, and AI, in particular, has generated significant apprehension about creativity and job security. Oneymenam echoed these concerns, stating that although AI has not dramatically shifted how sets operate, these technologies’ emergence has created copious fear. While AI can empower new opportunities for people to express themselves creatively, it also presents numerous significant problems within the entertainment industry. Oneymenam explained that AI is generative, not creative. AI generates results entirely based on pre-existing art; therefore, a world dependent on AI does not produce new ideas. Oneymenam asserted that an increased reliance on AI would coincide with a loss of technique within production. AI will likely affect the necessity of specific filmmaking techniques, thus reducing the filmmaking craft. While Onyemenam recognizes AI is a part of technology’s course, the loss of creativity is a significant consequence.

Although everyone’s path into the entertainment industry is unique, Onyemenam’s experience is a testament to unwavering creativity. So, what is Onyemenam’s most significant advice to aspiring industry professionals? Keep making projects. Onyemenam contends that no matter what stage someone is in their career, they should always be creating. Whether the projects are big or small, young people looking to break into the entertainment industry should work on refining their voices as filmmakers. Building a profile and body of creative works and finding a team of creatives is gravely important. Finally, as young aspiring filmmakers seek a career in the entertainment industry during these transformational times, Onyemenam stresses the importance of curiosity and unwavering ambition while maintaining an openness to new perspectives. 

Cover photo credit: Forbes

Internship Experience at Paddington Arts

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By Peyton Harvey

This spring, I had the exciting opportunity to intern at Paddington Arts and contribute to its online blog. At the beginning of my internship experience, I was incredibly eager to learn about Paddington Arts and its work in North Paddington and even more excited to see how my contributions to the online blog would contribute to the organization’s broader goals. Before this internship, my experience with journalism was limited, and I found myself nervous about diving into unfamiliar tasks.

However, my nerves quickly dissipated after my first week at Paddington Arts. The Paddington Arts environment is incredibly conducive to fostering creativity and supporting personal growth. I focused on topics I truly cared about and was excited to explore. This creative freedom allowed me to center my attention on passionate subjects, which allowed me to generate higher-quality pieces and become immersed in the work. There were seldom moments where I felt creatively stumped or as though I needed more time to explore new concepts I was interested in. This uniquely unconfined internship experience was pleasantly surprising, and this creatively focused environment has allowed me to gain a greater perspective on my career aspirations. 

If not for the opportunity to intern at Paddington Arts, I would not have afforded the space to dive into journalism and learn about the British entertainment industry. My experience at Paddington Arts will stay with me throughout my career. I am leaving this internship with a new outlook on community and teamwork and insight into the journalism world. As my time at Paddington Arts ends, I firmly assert that prospective interns should jump on any opportunity to work for this organization.

The Zone of Interest Review

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By Peyton Harvey

After winning two Oscars at the 2024 Academy Awards ceremony, The Zone of Interest has cemented itself as one of the best (and most harrowing) films of 2023. Based on Martin Amis’ 2014 novel of the same name, the historical drama offers an unprecedented depiction of the Holocaust in film, following a German family who, despite residing next to the Auschwitz Concentration Camp, are living an idyllic life. English director and screenwriter Jonathan Glazer, known for films such as Under the Skin (2013) and Birth (2004), penned the screenplay and directed the film, starring Sandra Hüller and Christian Friedel. The Zone of Interest premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on 19 May 2023 and was released in theaters in December 2023, receiving widespread critical acclaim and holding an impressive 93% on Rotten Tomatoes and 92% on Metacritic.


The film follows Rudolf Höss, a Nazi commandant at Auschwitz, played by Friedel, and Hedwig Höss, played by Hüller, a married couple who live with their children in the “Zone of Interest,” the area around Auschwitz reserved for Nazi commandants to reside with their families. The film follows the couple throughout their blissful daily lives, seemingly undisturbed by the nearby atrocities. However, as Rudolf rises within the Nazi regime and builds a picturesque life with Hedwig, hints of the horrific crimes occurring nearby sneak through the walls of their utopian bubble.

The Zone of Interest offers a powerful picture of how a group of people can commit and witness such horrifying crimes yet sit by idly and experience no discomfort or shift from normalcy in their own lives. In the film, the audience follows characters who seldom leave their congenial environments, going about life as though the crimes in Auschwitz are nothing more than a facet of Rudolf’s career. This sense of normalcy is what makes The Zone of Interest especially haunting. The film utilizes naturalistic elements to immerse the audience into a seemingly mundane life, humanizing the film’s characters and creating visual normalcy. Director of Photography Lukasz Zal shot the film in a highly realistic and objective manner and emphasized a raw color palette that immerses viewers into the film, almost making the audience complicit to the Höss family’s indifference. However, whispers of dread slowly slip through the cracks of their idealistic lives and let the audience in on the dreadful atrocities happening in such proximity.


The Zone of Interest’s sound design is undoubtedly the film’s most vital asset and most impressive feat. Johnnie Burn, who won the Academy Award for Best Sound for his work on the film, created an auditory experience that propels the profound sense of dread and eeriness home for viewers. Glazer omitted a lavish score from the film, allowing the audience to become submerged in the film’s realism and the sound design to be at the forefront of the film’s auditory message. Thus, the sound design is incredibly immersive, following similar patterns to the film’s naturalistic cinematography. The film’s sound design focuses on the natural world by depicting birds chirping, running rivers, and an utterly realistic quiet. However, these traditionally calming sounds do not produce typical placating effects on viewers. Throughout the film, the audience hears ambiguous sounds from afar, which include industrial and anguishing noises that are so subtle viewers could misinterpret them. These disturbing sounds are the primary indication of the horrors occurring at Auschwitz and inflict a potent heaviness and sense of dread on the viewers, making The Zone of Interest particularly chilling.

Hüller and Freidel deliver harrowingly casual performances that drive the unnerving indifference of their respective characters home. Rudolf and Hedwig discuss the crimes at Auschwitz with an unwavering casualness that fails to convey any indication of discomfort. Instead, viewers might even discern a chilling pleasantness that reveals their true evil. Even the Höss children discuss the horrors at Auschwitz with a sense of play and nonchalance that showcases a profound detachment and disregard that these characters have for such horrific, evil acts. Indifference is a choice, and The Zone of Interest expertly demonstrates society’s petrifying ability to sequester evil.