In the post-show debate, director Emma-Louise Williams talked about wanting to avoid nostalgia in her hour-long “film-poem” about Hackney. Sadly, Under The Cranes succumbed to sentimentalism.

Long shots of tenements were contrasted against new-builds and cranes. Busy, multi-cultural streets from days of yore were contrasted against rows of shutter-covered shops. The snapshots, put to minor-key music, were filled with Williams’ wistful and misty-eyed vision of the past.

She deserves admiration for putting the film together. But it feels as it is: a debut work made by someone with potential but little training.

No doubt it will interest anyone with strong connections to Hackney – especially given the words come from the borough’s son, Michael Rosen, and his “play for voices”. The words worked best to pictures of the market with traders talking about their memories. The archive material from the time of the Blackshirts fascists’ marches was another highlight - well-judged and powerful.

The debrief afterwards was directionless and thrown together (Rowan Moore pulling out can’t have helped, but three guests and no host is useless). Rosen – engaging, opinionated, enthusiastic – is always entertaining to hear. He ranted at the development industry’s bulls**t and dealt admirably with some dreadful audience questions.