Bornfrees Inspiration: Michael Apted's Seven Up series

In 2004, E-tv briefed Okuhle Media (then Page to Pictures) to shoot a documentary series based on a similar concept to Michael Apted’s British series, 7 UP.  The brief was to follow the lives of a selection of South African children who share the commonality of being born in the year South Africa celebrated its first democratic elections, in an effort to record their hopes and dreams and gain an understanding of how their lives have been affected by freedom. 

We'd like to reflect on the history of Michael Apted's Up series as it's an important element in the development of the series and as the latest instalment 56 Up broadcasts in May 2012.

Apted was a researcher (a key member of the production team) when Granada had the idea of filming a group of seven-year-old children from very different backgrounds for the British current affairs tv show World in Action. The first programme in 1964 proved a huge success and when Granada followed up the subjects at seven-yearly intervals Apted was at the helm, directing all the subsequent programmes, including the latest update, 56 Up. Seven Up! and its successors have turned out to be a jewel in television's crown, a precious, emotionally resonant social document, and a concept since copied in other countries. The premise of the film was taken from the Jesuit motto "Give me a child until he is seven and I will give you the man", which is based on a quotation by Ignatius Loyola.

The children were selected to represent the range of socio-economic backgrounds in Britain at that time, with the explicit assumption that each child's social class predetermines their future. Every seven years, the director, Michael Apted, films new material from as many of the fourteen as he can get to participate. The purpose is also stated at the beginning of "7 Up," as, "Why do we bring these children together? Because we want to get a glimpse of England in the year 2000. The union leader and the business executive of the year 2000 are now 7 years old."

Apted is also well-known for the Hollywood movies he has directed since he moved to the USA, such as Guerillas in the Mist, Nell, The Coal Miner's Daughter, the James Bond 007 film The World is Not Enough, The Chronicles of Narnia: Adventures of the Dawn Treader and the series Rome.

According to Apted, 56 Up is expected to have its broadcast premiere from 13 to 15 May 2012. Watch a fascinating behind-the-scenes interview with Apted in which he ponders some of the ethical and narrative considerations of making 49 Up: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpFsV489WuY

Apted says: "What other film would have spent 50 years, as we nearly will have done, examining somebody’s journey through life? To me, what’s moving about it is everybody has a story and every life is sort of heroic — what people go through, decisions you have to make — and the “Up” films sort of celebrate that".

The Up series has had both positive feedback (one of Robert Ebert's top ten movies) and criticism - some of the participants were unhappy with the scrutiny of their lives. But it was between 42 Up and 49 Up that the reality television phenomenon wove its influence into global television formats and now for this generation, our lives have never been this minutely chronicled through blogs, social media like Twitter and Facebook.

For those who live now, individual narratives are shaped as much by the participants as by the observers. Our Bornfrees are becoming their own Michael Apteds, revealing their preferences, socio-economic status, rituals of daily existence and the arc of their lives on their own terms. Is this examination a bad thing? Perhaps the self-introspection will lead us all towards our own greater self-awareness and empowerment.