Anthony Flavin grew up having a hard life, but his passion for Northern Soul music has turned his life upside down.
A documentary entitled "Soul Boy" was filmed as Flavin was approaching his 18th birthday. Luke Greenhill, Flavin's key worker, introduced him to the directors, Luke Radford and Toby Curson.
Anthony Flavin has a fearless energy
Radford said that Greenhill suggested that the directors join him at a Northern Soul event to meet new young people who recently moved into the care home where he is working.
Flavin's 1970s inspired outfit and fearless energy on the dancefloor instantly captured both the directors' attention. Radford also said they had developed a relationship with Flavin, and soon realized that his story and journey were unique.
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"Soul Boy" documentary
The documentary shows Flavin and Greenhill's close relationship. Greenhill said that Flavin has been in care since he was six years old, so he is very used to it compare to the other kids that he knows. He also said that Flavin is an excellent example of someone who has been in care since they were young and has already seen the whole system.
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Anthony Flavin (@anthonyflavin_northernsoul) on May 26, 2020 at 5:47am PDT
Curson said that Greenhill's efforts to develop and improve Flavin's situation was what caught their attention because he goes out of his way to support his teenager key worker's passion for Northern Soul. The efforts have allowed Flavin to develop social skills and feel a sense of community and belongingness for the first time.
Flavin's home, Nottingham, is a shrine to the 1960s and 1970s, and on their walls are icons like Steve McQueen and Jimi Hendrix. He wears classic Mod clothes like Harrington jackets, and Fred Perry tops, listens to 1960s American soul music, and dances out at Northern soul nights.
Flavin said that the first film that he watched was "Bullitt" then he shared that the ultimate cool of cool in his eyes is Steve McQueen.
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Anthony Flavin has a unique passion
Radford said that Flavin has a unique passion for the genre. He said that he has never met a young person in his life who wanted to go to the Northern Soul except Flavin, so they went there. Adding to that, he also said that he could threaten Flavin with Northern Soul not behaving well, which he already did about a hundred times.
According to Radford, Flavin transformed when he started going with him to soul nights. He also said that Flavin showed a lot of challenging behavior, but there was nothing terrible, only confusion.
Admittedly, Flavin said that going to the events has helped him "massively." He knows that those events were to build his confidence, independence, and to make him feel happy because he could get out to enjoy himself.
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Anthony Flavin's passion for music also affected the shoemaker Pete "The Shoe" Bullock. Bullock said that he knew something was missing when he reached the age of 50, which suddenly made him depressed.
He was not on the soul scene for a long time, and seeing Flavin on the dancefloor deeply resonated with him. He was so happy, and within minutes he got on the dancefloor, which made him happy because he is dancing to Northern.
Co-producer of the documentary, Nisha Chopra said that it was emotional when Flavin went to Blackpool to meet Richard Searling, a legendary DJ. The crew held back their tears because it was overwhelming.
