Paul Atherton
Filmmaker whose works are in the Museum of London collection.
Paul Atherton, a filmmaker based in London, was born on 20 March 1968. He created and directed The Ballet of Change, a quartet of short films shown on London landmarks. The Museum of London holds his video-diary Our London Lives in its permanent collection. He received the Freedom of the City of London in April 2026.
Quick Facts
- Born
- 20 March 1968
- Birthplace
- Cardiff, Wales
- Occupation
- filmmaker
Facts from the source article.
Early life
Atherton was abandoned at three months old in a tent at a disused airport in Cardiff and placed with a white foster family. He grew up in Ystrad Mynach, South Wales, left home at 15, spent time in children's homes, and at 16 set up home alone against Social Services' wishes. He started a Youth Training Scheme at Howells department store and later became Welsh Young Conservatives Press Officer, focusing on homelessness in Cardiff sixth forms. He is a graduate of Cardiff Business School.
Career
Atherton began filmmaking in 2002 with a four-week apprenticeship at UK Food and UK Style. He founded Simple TV Production in 2004. In 2005 he produced Silent Voices, a television docudrama about domestic violence that aired on the Community channel and was later released on DVD to raise funds for the National Centre for Domestic Violence. The Ballet of Change, a series of four four-minute films he produced and directed in 2007, was funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. Each film premiered at its respective landmark: Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square, Leicester Square and London Bridge. Music written for the films was available for download, and about 600 viewers at Piccadilly Circus brought MP3 players. Atherton stated his aim was to make archive images of London's history accessible to a wider audience. The Piccadilly Circus film was the first ever shown on that location's Coca-Cola billboard. In 2009 he produced Colour Blind 2009, directed by Amanda Baker, which premiered at the British Urban Film Festival and starred Wil Johnson and Robert Cavanah, exploring skin colour and stereotyping. In 2016, his video-diary Our London Lives, edited from over 300 hours of footage to 77 minutes, tracked sixteen years of his son's visits from South Wales to London. It screened in the Museum of London's exhibition "Recording A Life" and was later added to the museum's permanent collection.
Personal life
Atherton has Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, which requires him to use a wheelchair. As of 2023, he was housed in a Central London hotel at Westminster City Council's expense; the council said it had offered permanent accommodation elsewhere, which Atherton refused, stating the hotel suited his disability better.
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