Earlier this year, Mustafa and Arran—two celebrated, East London-based directors who have worked with the likes of Sainté, Jim Legxacy and PinkPantheress—embarked on their first adventure outside of music to pursue their lifelong dream of filmmaking. They picked up their cameras one Saturday in April and filmed their debut, 6 TILL 6—a documentary based in East London, filmed over a 24-hour period.

The director pair, who refer to themselves as burnermunde, explore Brick Lane, Stratford, London Fields, and many other areas with only one obligation: “To keep the camera rolling at all times.” The short film includes stories from people like Robert, a rough sleeper in Stratford, and Kamal, the self-proclaimed ‘King of Hackney’. By blending difficult, heart-wrenching moments, intense close-up footage and funny, surrealist elements, burnermunde captures the breadth and depth of the people and stories in and around the East End.

I met Mustafa and Arran in Stratford on a Wednesday afternoon in July. It was the first sunny day in a while, and the area was lively—street evangelists preaching outside Westfield, crowds of people rushing to cross the street before the traffic lights turned red, and traders in Market Village were back in action. I initially met them at the back of an amusement centre and was greeted by the colourful flashing games, the whooshing fall of change in multiple coin-operated machines, and jackpot noises. It was an unorthodox place to conduct an interview, but I think it added to the conversation that was about to take place. Unfortunately, we had to change locations because my phone battery was on its last legs and I needed to record the interview. I suggested the historic Stratford Picturehouse, which has recently announced its closure (this is not long after the doors of Showcase Newham were demolished after 25 years), a bittersweet place to discuss the journey of burnermunde and their debut film.

On our short walk to the cinema, I wanted to know how Arran and Musti’s day had been. They had just come back from Hackney Picturehouse after a test screening because the premiere of 6 TILL 6 was the next day. They discussed their concerns with the audio and how busy they had been over the past week, but their feelings of excitement and confidence were the most prominent during our walk. They didn’t seem nervous, but rather expectant to hear what people think about their debut. We sat on the balcony level of Stratford Picturehouse, and the interview swiftly began.

TRENCH: Who is burnermunde?

Mustafa: I’m Mustafa, aka Musti, and I’m from Stratford—born and raised in Newham. I love it here and ride for this place. It’s a crazy place, but it’s also sweet. Everyone from Newham does their bit to put our borough on the map, and I hope that I can do my part by making these films.

Arran: I’m Arran and I was born and bred in Leicester. I’m 24, and I moved to London five years ago to study film at uni. I didn’t end up learning anything but it got me here on a little student loan. I’m super proud of where I’m from, and it’s definitely similar to East London.

What does ‘burnermunde’ actually mean?

Arran: It means burner boys—‘munde’ means ‘boys’ in Punjabi—and the reason we picked this name is because everything we’ve been recently making looks like content that should be on a burner Instagram account but with a bit of a twist.

How did you guys know you wanted to work with each other?

Mustafa: We worked with each other last year on a couple of music videos and began talking about the stuff we were into and realised that we were referencing a lot of the same things. Life got busy, but we were always going to work with each other outside of this music space.

Arran: I remember the day he called me and it was a state-of-the-game talk. Musti was just talking about how pissed off he was about his trajectory and the types of jobs he was getting. We just ended up saying: why don’t we just do what we want to do and make projects for ourselves instead of other people?

You both have a background in music, specifically visuals. What made you decide to transition from directing music videos to filmmaking?

Mustafa: Narrative was always the goal. This was what we wanted to do and, sometimes with film, it’s so grand that it’s scary for a lot of directors to go from adverts or music videos to film. It’s kinda something I should have done a long time ago.

Are there any stark differences that you’ve noticed between the two industries?

Arran: In terms of the work, we’re kind of back to school again and we’re learning about how a 40-minute or an hour edit should be. Organising deadlines, external things around the video like the event, so it is like being back to square one but I have enjoyed it.

How did the idea for your 6 TILL 6 documentary come about?

Mustafa: Funnily enough, we spoke about it last year and said that we should go outside Westfield one day, stay there for 24 hours and record stuff. But when we came back to it later this year, we were obviously writing so much stuff outside of 6 TILL 6 and ended up going back to that idea. It was kind of, like, field work.

Arran: 6 TILL 6 wasn’t supposed to be a film—it was supposed to be practice for us to see what our bodies and minds can do for 24 hours.

How long did production and post production take? Was it a smooth process or did you face any challenges?

Arran: Pre-production was nonexistent. We just turned up one day; we picked the best day in terms of weather, it was a Saturday, so we knew things were going on. We picked up a microphone and that was literally it. Post-production was heavy; we were editing things ourselves so it was difficult to sequence all this mad shit we had seen that day and make it concise.

Mustafa: And we also had to write. It’s obviously a documentary, so we don’t know what we are going to get; it’s not like we’re following a specific person or went out with a story in mind. So we just recorded what we did and had to write around it. That was a new thing.

What were some of your cultural reference points when making 6 TILL 6?

Arran: Home video is one reference. We were filming on cameras using tape so, to some extent, it feels like a home video—a documentation of now. It feels older but very present.

Mustafa: Music was a reference, but specifically ambient music. We spoke about what we were going to do and ended up naturally going to ambient music, like trip-hop.

What are some of your favourite creative choices in the film?

Arran: I love the way we shot it and filmed everyone really closely—you can see every detail on their faces. It’s intrusive in the best way, and you get to read them while things are blowing up in your face. We mentioned the music before, so the ambient sound with that shooting style makes you feel a bit uneasy.

What did you struggle with the most when planning and shooting it?

Arran: There were a few things, to be honest, like knowing when to turn the camera on and off, whether to keep rolling if we were in a situation or conversation, or to stop at certain points to make the subject feel comfortable. The only goal we had was to keep the cameras rolling so we could get a real representation of what we were filming.

Mustafa: Off the back of that too, it’s about being as graceful as possible to the people who are in it because some people are either being silly or saying some real shit and you don’t want to poke fun at the person.

What’s one thing you wish you were told before you got into filmmaking, or something you found surprising early on?

Mustafa: Overthinking gets you nowhere and you have to put your anxieties to the side. I learnt that from Arran.

Arran: I try to tell people that all the time. I can get into that bubble of overthinking, too, but you just have to do whatever you can with whatever you have.

For all the film lovers out there, if you could recommend a must-watch documentary, what would it be?

Mustafa: Cold Turkey. I think it’s so similar to 6 TILL 6 and you really feel like you’re on a journey with this guy.

Arran: Exit Through The Gift Shop, which is basically about Banksy and this guy who wants to record every hour of his life and doesn’t want to turn the camera off.

Who are some of your favourite filmmakers?

Mustafa: Sean Baker.

Arran: Chris Morris.

Mustafa: Those are our biggest influences, for sure.

Your creative processes, styles—describe that for us.

Arran: Because we’ve been fiddling around with these cameras, it’s very much about going outside and shooting it. We’ve been learning about the characteristics of these cameras which has been our creative process.

Mustafa: Another thing is also deciding what’s real and what’s fake. That’s why it’s even important we mentioned Sean Baker and Chris Morris because Sean Baker is very boots-on-the ground and reality focused, and we love that. But there are also things that are more Chris Morris, which we want to do that are weird and a bit zany.

6 TILL 6 is so quintessentially East London—why was it important to shoot it here?

Mustafa: We both live in East London, so that is a big factor. And the thing is, documentary is what we’ve done now but we’re going into narrative and that’s what we will be doing moving forward. It was important to shoot it here because these stories that you’re going to see, this is where they come from or places like this.

Arran: I’m not even from East London—I’m from Leicester—but there are a lot of similarities between both places. Like you said, our work going forward will come from places like this so it’s important that it’s set in East london, but also not.

Mustafa: I always say that East London is a microcosm for the whole of London. The things happening here are also happening in North and South and West. It could have been filmed in any part of London, but this is the closest place to us.

What do you hope people take away from 6 TILL 6?

Arran: For people to consider what’s happening on their doorsteps and around them. We love documentaries about what’s happening with this celebrity or that country, and we just wanted to highlight that there is actually interesting shit happening outside, in these communities and the people you walk past.

Mustafa: I hope people get inspired to also go out and film. If you don’t know what direction to go in—whether to go left or to go right—just move somewhere and film whatever.

What are some themes and narratives you would like to explore in the future?

Arran: Highlighting the importance of what is happening here in the UK, in London. There are so many subcultures in the UK; people think they know the UK and have seen it all but there are so many weird things happening—and not just in London, but places like Bradford and Manchester—that people need to know about.

You both have an opportunity to ask each other a question that you’ve wanted to ask during this entire process—what is it?

Mustafa: Did I annoy you at any point, and if I did, at what point?

Arran: You didn’t annoy me but you surprised me, because you were the first one to be sleepy on filming day. I’m usually the one that goes to bed early and you sleep at silly o’clock [laughs]. At 4am, you were done and wanted to sit on a bean bag, in the dark, which was the worst possible idea.

Arran: What do you think your mum would think of 6 TILL 6?

Mustafa: I think she would be confused about it. I spoke to her about it the week before and explained, and she asked why and wanted to know the point.

Arran: That’s like my mum, too, and that is literally what we asked ourselves in the doc—why we did it. And we still don’t really know [laughs].

How are you guys feeling before the premiere?

Arran: It’s a walk in the park, mate. I think we’re made for this and it’s something we’ve wanted to do for ages. I can’t wait to see everyone’s reactions.

Mustafa: I’m not nervous because everything has been back to back—we just had the test screening and a million things are happening at once. The screening is tomorrow, which I didn’t even deep. I really want people to not like it. I don’t want it to be a thing where everyone likes it because I think the documentary is flawed in so many ways and it would be nice to see people highlight that and start a conversation. Hopefully people don’t expect more documentaries after this. I’m worried that people will see this and ask us when the next one is coming.

Arran: What I’ve always said is that we’lll do the exact opposite of what people want us to do.

I attended the premiere of 6 TILL 6 at Hackney Picturehouse the day after the interview with burnermunde. The screening was filled with over a hundred people from various parts of Musti and Arran’s lives, who led a standing ovation and received the film with cheers and applause. The screening was followed by a Q&A session led by BAFTA-nominated and BIFA-winning star Vivian Oparah.

I asked burnermunde to send over some answers to additional questions I had post-screening to build on this interview and the world that they’re creating. Splitting the interview in this way—before 6 TILL 6 and after 6 TILL 6—felt like an eccentric way of capturing the genesis of their careers in filmmaking. East London is ever-changing, and with its multitude of stories and existences, 6 TILL 6 provides us with a snapshot in time, representing the current zeitgeist and reminding people of the worlds that exist on our doorsteps.

How are you feeling after a very successful premiere?

Arran: Good! We’re both feeling good.

A cool detail at the screening were these two men on stage who were referred to as your future selves. Why did you have them on stage?

Arran: We bumped into these guys on our way to the cinema and thought it would be funny.

Have you kept in touch with any of the people in the documentary?

Arran: Yeah. We’re still in contact with the majority of the people in the documentary, other than Robert, who was really difficult to find. We’ve tried to track him down since but have been out of luck.

If you could do one thing differently now, what would that be?

Mustafa: Expose the camera correctly!

Although funny at times, the premise of the documentary, as Musti said, was inherently political and you guys were obviously struggling with navigating the difficult circumstances faced by the subjects in 6 TILL 6. What responsibilities do you think filmmakers have to those being captured?

Arran: Being graceful towards your subject. Represent them as honestly as possible.

Mustafa: I’m going to second what A-Star said: I think we should always be on the side of our subjects rather than poking fun at them or treating them as if they’re a joke.

What’s next for burnermunde?

Arran: Our narrative film that we’ve already started, which all stems from an event which happened a couple of months ago. It kinda links back to 6 TILL 6. One day, I was in South London and had my camera on me; I was five minutes away from a drive-by shooting. I recorded the aftermath of it and I realised that if you were to just chill outside, you can really capture some crazy shit because I was just there which is kind of the ethos for 6 TILL 6. We based our narrative on that event.

Mustafa: The story’s based on the footage as well. Obviously, no one died or was harmed but yeah, our next film will be about that.