Watch: Appropriate Behaviour

Poor Desiree Akhaven, the writer, director and star of Appropriate Behaviour, has been called everything from the 'New Lena Dunham' to the 'Iranian Lena Dunham' via the super imaginative 'Bisexual Lena Dunham'. The comparisons must be super annoying and stem from an industry that clearly doesn't how to handle seeing work from two young women that happen to be set in the same city and are both a bit funny. That's just crazy, right?!

Like Dunham's 'Girls', there is a hipster New York lifestyle for a young woman, in this case Persian American Shirin bisexual (Akhaven), that often involves shit sex and shit jobs, but Appropriate Behaviour actually has a lot to say from perspectives Dunham never even touches.

Touted everywhere as a comedy, I found I enjoyed the film a lot more when I stopped expecting it to be funny. Sure there are funny moments, such as an awkward date and excruciating threesome scene, but often the comedy felt a little forced. Where this film really succeeds is in it's depiction of a flawed yet realistic bisexual character and of a mixed race relationship and the challenges that can bring. Akhaven brings an authenticity to the story of a second generation Iranian in America (being one herself) and the difficulties of 'coming out' to her family, the navigation of how a relationship kept a secret can work or not work as the case may be - the film starts with the break-up of Shirin and girlfriend Maxine (Rebecca Henderson) but there are frequent flashbacks telling the relationship from first meeting to the aftermath. There are some astute comments on queer life; Maxine telling Shirin the only part of gay culture she is comfortable with are drag queens, Maxine kissing a man and comparing it to kissing a baby.

A few scenes and characters missed the mark (the strap-on being thrown in the rubbish and then carried down the street was laying it on a little thickly), but overall Akhaven makes a strong debut and brings gay culture into the mainstream without subscribing to the male gaze.

Adding on to my rant in my last post, it was interesting to see the Soho Curzon almost full at this midweek screening. Appropriate Behaviour has had a huge push, especially for an Indie; tube posters, articles and reviews in mainstream female focused media like Stylist and Glamour Magazine. It makes a difference if people know about the film British film industry!

Watch: Catch Me Daddy + A Rant

Catch Me Daddy is the kind of film that leaves you with aching muscles because you've been hunched over, physically tensed up at the building horror of the action on screen. And yes, I headed straight to the bar for a drink to settle my shot nerves as soon as it finished.

A debut feature from brothers Daniel and Matthew Wolfe, Catch Me Daddy tells the story of 17 year old Laila, a Pakistani girl who has fled her traditional family to be with her white Scottish boyfriend. They are trying to scrape by in a secret world of no N.I numbers at work for fear of being tracked down, holed up in a caravan on the Yorkshire moors, unaware that a group of Pakistani men, including her brother and some hired white men from the seedy underworld, are catching up to them.

'Honour killing' is never actually said out loud; it doesn't need to be. As the men close in on the couple, it seems even more heart wrenching as we never see Laila and Aaron so much as kiss. While the relationship is clearly real and intense there is an almost innocent childlike quality to them that makes the brutal tracking down seem unnecessary.

Robbie Ryan, who made East London look postively stunning in Fish Tank works his magic again, the Yorkshire Moors almost becoming a character in it's own right; misty air, dazzling sunsets and lots of atmospheric nights shoots using the outdoor backdrop to amp up the terror. The seemingly mundane becomes beautiful; a fish tank, nail polish spilling from an overturned bottle. The Wolfe brothers said they drew inspiration from old Westerns and you can definitely feel that classic chase and sense of foreboding coupled with a very modern look at both race and class. The comments made by the Pakistani men about the guys they've hired to help are often hilarious and the nightclub scene delivers the sheer horror of nightlife up North.

Street casting was used for a number of characters and the realism it brings would lump the film in the 'social realism' category, were it not so cinematically shot. Several scenes, like the one in the milkshake shop are hilarious without the polish an actor would have brought. Sameena Jabeen Ahmed, with her hypnotic green eyes, won the award for best newcomer at the British Independent Film Awards recently. She deserved it, for the last harrowing scenes that will leave you digging your nails into your hand, alone.

And now for a rant.

I've seen Catch Me Daddy reviews and interviews everywhere from The Guardian and The Independent, Hunger magazine, Dazed, i-D and Vice. There was plenty of buzz from the cool taste makers and respected industry, your BFI's and Film 4's. But as I watched the film at Brixton Ritzy, less than a week after release, the screen was not even a third full.

Where are all the readers of those publications? Where are the film fans? I bet screens for 50 fliiping Shades are 3 times as big and still selling out. I know the media has rammed that film down our throats for months and the campaign would have been a huge money strong beast designed to do exactly that. I know that British films are given a tiny marketing budget in comparison to Hollywood blockbusters, and without awareness people won't part with money. But there has been a steady buzz about this film and still the bums aren't on seats. I won't knock anyone who streams films at home, money is tight for us all and the cinema is expensive. But we need to support British films by actually going to watch them on the big screen the way they were designed to be watched, we need to pump that money back into the industry so that Brits can carry on making excellent films the way only we can. No Catch Me Daddy doesn't have some bumbling toff prancing about in a tepid romantic comedy. It does have real characters, real beauty, real suspense, real issues. Now it and films like it, need real support.

Watch: Nightcrawler

Ever slowed down in the car to get a look at a car accident? Well Jake Gyllenhaal turns rubbernecking into a very shady career, as anti-hero Lou Bloom in Nightcrawler, directed by first-time director Dan Gilroy. A stark comment on today's desensitised, hyper-reality craving times, the film sees down-and-out Lou become a videographer in LA, filming at crash sites, break-ins and other criminal goings on in the city (preferably in good neighbourhoods and involving ethnic minority criminals) to sell to TV news stations.

Gyllenhaal lost a substantial amount of weight for the role and it works: his face is gaunt, his eyes bulge out of his head, lending to the 'otherness' of this wiry, ruthless and overly ambitious carnage chaser. His portrayal is shockingly detailed and uncomfortable; huge, unblinking eyes and a stillness as he recounts self-help platitudes. When we first meet Lou we feel almost empathy for him because he is desperate for work in today's strained economic times and willing to work hard for a foot in the door, yet these very same characteristics are turned on their head when he is in a position of power. Just as people have lauded their power over him, so will he in turn and his determination to work hard is not confined to the barriers of the law, morality or normal decency.

British actor Riz Ahmed (4 Lions) co-stars as his bullied assistant Rick and is brilliant. Almost unrecognisable, with longer hair and no facial hair, he embodies the needy, hesitant vulnerability of Rick, again desperate for work, no fixed abode, willing to do terrible things for money.
Renee Russo also has a good turn as station news director Nina. While the audience become more horrified at the lengths Lou goes to to procure and distribute his footage, Nina only becomes more impressed although she too has found herself in a position of need.

There are high tension action sequences but this film is all about performances. Characterisation rules as the actors deliver performances that literally had my mouth fall open several times.

 

*All pictures sourced via Google

Short Film Review: YouTroll and Mustard

Last week I was invited down to a private screening of two short films written by hot new writing and directing talent Nathan Bryon (of Some Girls fame) and Theresa Varga. With both films about to embark on the festival circuit, I caught up with the guys behind the camera for a chat about internet trolls, 1970's decor and a little mouse with dreadlocks!

YOUTROLL: written by Nathan Bryon, directed by Theresa Varga and Nathan Bryon

A twisted tale about the dark side of the Internet and its use in modern day bullying, YouTroll uses contemporary techniques like grainy camera phone-style and YouTube footage to cement its youth focused message. A very modern tragedy, the use of social networking for leaving suicide notes is heightened by the pounding use of grime beats that mimic a fast heartbeat and sync with shots exploding onto the screen. At first the audience are led to believe that Ola is a victim of bullying as we see him being roughed up by school mates but later, in his diatribe to camera (which includes him calling himself Twitter famous!) we see that he is the bitter and angry bully who has led another classmate to suicide.

Here's what Nathan had to say:

Was it a conscious decision to tell the story from the point of view of the antagonist rather than the victim? What kind of impact do you think this has on the audience?

My main message of the film is that young people are not ‘evil’ which I think is a common misconception and I don’t believe evil exists. It for me shows societies failings of these young people. I think everyone in these situations are victims and YouTroll shows that from both sides!  But yes long story short it was a conscious decision, as we need to think of all the viewpoints of a story and ideally the most unique and nuanced one that will give off the best story.

Social media is such a dominant part of youth culture and obviously affected the visual style of the film. Do you think anything can be done to combat the dangers of the online world? What would you say are the good parts of social media?

I think that is all fundamentally falls back on how young people are feeling about themselves in this day and age, Bullying will always find another vehicle to travel in if you block those sites people will find a new way. We need to look at the root of the problem, and that will be when the rest gets better. The root of the bullying problem is young people’s self-confidence, and people wanting to feel accepted. If in school’s you taught self-love and we got more spiritual in schools we would start to see a change in behavior, for example the basic lesson that we are all just one being Let A Don Live!

Why was Ola so angry? There’s mention of his dad not being around and also of the dreams of Theo which is a bit homoerotic – do you think young men find it hard to express their emotions and so become violent?

Ola was so angry because he was lonely, he went from being someone who was very confident in a ‘gang’ to being the outcast. There is a history of young men finding it hard not expressing their emotions but I do believe it is something that is changing more and more even subtly with the likes of drainpipe skinny jeans and guys plucking their eyelashes. I would again say we need to encourage that freedom of not suppressing your emotions whatever sex you are, as it’s science you bottle bad energies up, you will explode with bad energies and always feel on edge.

Being well know yourself, have you ever had to deal with a ‘YouTroll’? How did you handle it?

Luckily no, I have never had anything that bad, sure some people have said nasty stuff about me or my work, but I am in an industry were I am told no EVERYDAY I couldn’t care less! Just block delete and hope they can link love or attention elsewhere, because (sweet brown voice) ain’t nobody got time for that!  I once had some nasty comments about me posted on an SBTV video I did and at first it hit me I was like aww that makes me feel sad mainly as LOADS of other people can freely view that, also as the comments weren’t deleted by SBTV you do feel a bit out there, but the keyboard warriors generally ain’t really making movements that I need to worry about so we keep it moving baby!!

You have worked a lot with director and editor Theresa Varga who happens to also be your girlfriend. Best and worst things about working with your girl?

Best things you are working with someone you trust and love, and has the same mindset of the future goal and work ethic! I wouldn’t call it the worst but if a project is very intense you can end up talking work literally 24/7 so we have nice weekends where emails are just not linked and work is not whispered! I have never had this before in a relationship so it is great to be with someone who inspires your work ethic and make me a better person and artist. And after these two films I plan to work with the amazing Theresa Varga a lot more J

You act – how and why did you get into writing your own stuff? What’s next?

Becoming an actor writer is the best thing I did, if gave me the opporutinity to create my own work, I hate waiting around so I need to make work and get it out there, I learn from my mistakes which are generally in front of people rather than behind closed doors! I got into writing at the Lyric Theatre, shout to Dean Atta and Deanna Rodger who taught a don how to write, then I did some boom playwriting workshops with Simon Stephens and Bola Agbaje and that was it, I wanted to write everything, plays,TV, films and I have not lost the bug. I would encourage every young actor to write, we need to create our own roles, and generate our own shows, like my idol Oprah she has got OWN she got a network and that is the dream.

Up next for me I have written an episode of Rastamouse for the new series on Cbeebies. I am working on my next short film called Just A Walk In the Palk which I am shooting in July and lots more YouTube stuff. I am writing a lot of TV stuff all of which is in the mix at various places so beg you cross some fingers for me. An currently writing my first feature film with Isaac Ssebandeke who play’s Ola in YouTroll.

Mustard: written by Theresa Varga and Nathan Bryon, directed and produced by Theresa Varga

Mustard is an intense, almost overwhelmingly foreboding dark piece of cinematic storytelling with a strong comedy element. With limited dialogue we meet protagonist Penelope, played by Ria Zmitrowicz from Youngers, at home with her American mother and sullen father. There is something charmingly 'other' about her character; she seems removed from the boring world she lives in and the flashbacks soon reveal why. Having been the victim of abuse at the hands of her head teacher, Penelope extracted her revenge...and got away with it. The 1970's aesthetic is so on point, adding to the strangely claustrophobic feeling of the piece and the cinematography is stunningly haunting, particularly during a scene in a graveyard.

I spoke to Theresa Varga about the film and what it's like to be a female film maker.

Penelope is not immediately likeable – why do you think the audience warms to her?

Penelope is certainly a complex character but I think the audience warm to her as the film progresses because we all have a sort of have a Penelope in us. Whether it be the feeling of outcast or distance from those that should be closet to us, she represents a dysfunctional child which many of us have been at some point in our lives and the audience grow to love her through their own experiences and feelings in life and can relate to at least some part of Penelope. Also I think her warped comedy and warped enjoyment in life makes her slightly loveable as lets face it everyone can be weird at times and again this also reflects a part in everyone.

How did you get things so spot on in terms of the period? It looks sooo 70’s!

The key to the 70s look was a mixture of knowing what I wanted from the moment I wrote the script, collaborating with amazingly talented Amelia Bennett who was my costume and set designer and also a great deal of luck (although I don’t believe in luck nothing is a coincidence!). As I produced the film too I had full control over location choice and came across this incredible 70s décor house in London, the house even had a pool it was amazing. We also had to research quite a lot particularly concerning music, clothing, hair and makeup looks and other factors such as newspapers. Massive props to Millie for baking the fabulous cakes that you see in the film too! I think overall the work that me and Millie put into the film and the attention to detail is what drove the film forward, we made a great team and I’m so excited to work with her again, but I really have to give the most praise to Millie for her incredible work ethic and the heart and soul that she put into the film.

Why the old school tv style footage to frame the film?

The old school TV style footage pops up in her memories or flashback of her teacher. I wanted to differentiate this part from the rest of the film, hence the way it is cropped. I wanted it to symbolize a type of broken record or never ending film reel that is constantly playing in Penelope’s head, as if her mind was a home movie. The style is also kept within the vintage feel of the film .

The graveyard scene was brilliant, especially the filming with both the  characters on either side of the cross headstone. Do you like to combine comedy with dark elements and why do you think this works so well?

In regards to dark comedy I love it, I like twisted and warped realities, a character you don’t particularly see on screen often but one in a dark way you can relate to. I think the comedy element puts the viewer in a weird realm, the comedy is never laugh out loud but Penelope’s quirks in particular and even the mothers quirks keep your attention alert and drawn in. I just think comedy and darkness go hand on hand so well but at the same time are still polar opposites, creating a surreal environment.

What are the challenges for a female film maker in a male dominated industry?

I think certain male filmmakers without realizing can be slightly prejudiced towards woman in the industry and I think this all stems from trust on their part but also the fact that woman lack a certain kind of cockiness that men carry, kind of like the alpha male effect. I feel even at uni there just hasn’t been the same amount of praise and respect towards female filmmakers from fellow students. This is deeply rooted in our society and has been the core of beliefs for so long its something even our generation are finding hard to shake. But the fact is there are so many amazing female directors, DOP s, gaffers etc.. That are seeping slowly through into the limelight and we all haven’t succumbed to the fictitious attitude that we “have to act like men” to make it in the industry – our talent holds for itself.  I firmly believe woman do have a harder time, even my teacher once prepped me that I will have men hitting on me in industry with the proposition of making me successful quicker. I could literally talk for days on the subject but I think we need to firmly teach all our children from young about equality (and that goes for all minorities) to really make a change in this world.

What’s next?

Both Nathan and me are about to hit the festivals with our debuting films, which is very exciting, so keep your eyes peeled! It exciting and nerve wracking all at the same time haha. My next short is currently in the writing stage, so I will also be crowd funding and raising funds very soon to get the project up and running.. I can’t wait to be on set again! Also I’ve just graduated from Ravensbourne university so it will be time to hopefully *fingers crossed* find a job within the industry too!

Nathan and Theresa are undoubtedly some top talent to keep an eye out for in the film world. Keep an eye out for a collaboration between myself and Theresa too ;)

Follow them both here:

Nathan: @nathanbryon on Twitter or his website

Theresa: @theresavarga on Twitter or her website

Review: 300 Rise of An Empire

Title: 300 Rise Of An Empire

Release Date: 7th March 2014

Directed By: Noam Murro

Starring: Sullivan Stapleton, Lena Heady, Eva Green, Rodrigo Santoro, Jack O'Connell

Rating: 15 - Contains strong bloody violence, strong sex and sexual violence

300: Rise of An Empire is a prequel/sequel of sorts to 2007's 300, taking place before, during and after the events of that film, this time exchanging the arena of sand and rock for the unforgiving and unpredictable sea. Based on Xerxes the unpublished graphic novel prequel to 300 by Frank Miller, we see Athenian Naval general Themistokles (Sullivan Stapleton) on a mission to unite all of Greece against the invading Persian army, ruled by the King Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro) who has, in a pact with evil forces, become a god...Themistokles just so happened to shoot the arrow that fell Xerxes father, so there's no love lost here anyway.

Director Murro has gone for full out epic-ness with this blood soaked battle film, emphasising themes of war through character beautifully; Xerxes quest to avenge his fathers death at the hand of the Greeks is to be expected but the lust for retribution that spurns on the amazing Artemisia who is actually Greek born is an interesting element reflective of more recent cases of modern political terrorism like suicide bombers. All the soldiers speak of honour and patriotism and leader Themistokles' rousing speeches reinforce this but it is actually the smaller moments and relationship between father and son Scyllias and Calisto (Callan Mulvey and Jack O'Connell) that push the message so effectively:
"A mans responsibility is to protect his family and his nation"
"Who told you this?"
"My father"
While I enjoyed O'Connell's performance and he was convincing in his earnestness, his regional accent threw me and weakened his credibility as the rest of the cast were aristocratic in their pronunciation.

Like the first film, the Frank Miller graphic novels strongly influence the visual style of the film and there is a video-game flair to the editing - lots of sudden zoom ins and outs and 180 degree spins, almost as if the audience are controlling the view themselves with a remote. I had the pleasure of attending a Universal screening of the film at the Imax and can definitively say the 3D aspect enhances the film tenfold. The film tends to alternate between slower, more dialogue heavy scenes and frantic action scenes peppered with slow motion but the 3D enriches both whether it be ash floating in the air as the soldiers camp down or blood and sweat flying out at you as the swords are swung and sliced through the air and flesh, horse hoofs on the battlefield look like they are about to stomp on your head.

Cinematography wise there are very obvious colour schemes running through the film, with golden yellows signifying Sparta whenever the film heads over there to Spartan queen Gorgo (Lena Headey) or the sun soaked Persia but the majority of the film takes place out at sea with moody blue and grey tones. The divisions of war are made clear for an audience by simple wardrobe choices; red robes for the Spartans, blue for the Athenians and black and metal body armour and masks for the Persian warriors, with their god King Xerxes looking like molten gold and Artemisia their vicious leader clad in tight black leather with metal accents, smoky black eyes adding to her evil smoulders.
Sonically, Eastern sounding pan pipes and chanting sounds help to place the film geographically and the grunts, groans, yells and screams were a little over the top but to be expected in a huge action blockbuster such as this. I was also rewarded with a few Spartan 'Awoooga's' from the original 300.

The success of strong female characters in popular series Game Of Thrones in which Headey stars perhaps inspired writer Zack Snyder (who wrote and co-directed the first movie) to infuse the film with such feminine dominance. Spartan Queen Gorgo is actually not vital to the storyline yet she is used as a narrator and the beginning and end of the film, in fact leading her Spartan soldiers with her emotive storytelling.
While Stapleton is charming as the good guy, down to earth leader complete with honourable inspiring speeches he is entirely outshone by his enemy Artemisia (Eva Green). Green is magnificent as the malevolent and ruthless Artemisia; her icy coldness, killer instincts, skill with a sword combined with utter bloodlust ensure she steals the whole show. Artemesia is desperate for an equal having tired of excelling at leading her army and isolated in her brilliance, therefore she is turned on by Themistokles' demonstration of power and intelligence which leads to some of the best scenes in the film, the sexually charged fighting between the two electrify the the screen.
Green also has the best one liners..."If death comes I'm ready" and my personal fave "You fight harder than you fuck". Vengeance is her ultimate driver and for one of the main characters to be such a central part of the film is a pleasure to see, in a Hollywood where female characters are still so underrepresented.

Shanika Says: An action-packed violent fantasy film, stylistic slickness wins out over characterisation but it is still a blood soaked visual success. In cinemas this Friday 7th March.

Rating: 3.5/5 ***

My very own warriors!

* All images sourced from Google

Review: An Oversimplification Of Her Beauty

Title: An Oversimplification of her Beauty

Release date: One day release at the Picture House chain, 11^th February 2014 (UK)

Director: Terence Nance

Starring: Terence Nance, Namik Minter

Rating: 12A, Contains moderate nudity and bloody images

Terence Nance’s ‘An Oversimplification Of Her Beauty’ is the most innovative and fresh piece of filmmaking I have seen in a feature film for a long time. His alternative directorial style lends itself beautifully to the layered and complex relationship he explores between himself, as the protagonist and Namik Minter, his not-quite lover/not-just friend who also features in the film. Her apparent rejection of his advances by standing him up forms the basis of his agonized musings that both inspired and make up the content of the film. If it were a Facebook status it would most definitely be ‘Complicated’.

Nance in fact chooses to merge two films, his original short film and a later created film, continuously swapping and changing between the two. It is a very deliberate choice to have an unorthodox, de-linear narrative structure, one that reflects Nance’s wandering and haphazard mind. Creativity literally buzzes around every device used and there are a multitude of them, ranging from graphics, documentary style footage, dolls, a myriad of different illustration and animation types as well as more traditional film footage.

Conventional film functions are flouted from the very beginning when the credits are played over the opening scene. Before and after each extract of the first film there are old school VHS graphics – ‘pause’ ‘eject’ ‘play’ – the second film framed with a mock up of a traditional studio ident. This is consistently repeated mirroring the back and forth of Nance’s thoughts and emotions.

As you would expect with a film as inventive as this, the editing and cinematography vary wildly throughout with no set style, choppy editing in some scenes contrast with longer sequential scenes and even further still with any of the illustrated sections. It is all so mismatched and yet seamlessly fits in with the presentation of a story neither Nance or Minter can seem to work out themselves.

The device of narrator is used to stupendous success. A deep, rumbling Voice Of God narrator is comedic in its formality but it is the blending and merging with Nance’s own voice that brings us back to the personal and allows us to feel the deep sense of rejection and confusion that he is experiencing as he struggles to marry his emotional unavailability with his rapid and deep infatuations.

Nance is a founding member of Media MVMT a film production company who are partnered with the Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Art and this influence is intrinsic to the look and feel of the film whilst feeling so natural that it is almost invisible. Musical choices of hip-hop beats or jazz funk tones don’t jar with the story or multitude of visual styles.

The females in the film are refreshing to see, an array of black women of different shades and presentations – light skin, brown skin, dark skin, natural hair, braids. It is essentially a celebration of black beauty in realistic and relatable forms, not the long stereotypical, long limbed air brushed Hollywood beauty of the Halle Berry’s and Zoe Saldana’s but real women in their natural states, being worshipped by Nance and his recollection of their romantic dalliances. It’s quite beautiful to see.

While the acting seems amateur it’s almost as if it's meant to; the film is so personal, so autobiographical that any attempt at pretense doesn’t sit quite right against the more fantastical animations or the hyper-real documentary footage. I read an interview with Nance (moorizzlasays.com) where he discusses the revealing nature of An Oversimplification, whether he feels it is too much or symptomatic of our over-sharing generation.

“Whether or not I put something in the movie or not it’s not simply a matter of how ‘private’ or not private it is but it’s more to serve the portraiture that’s happening and kind of steer it in a direction…I think that this idea that we’ve somehow socially changed to now want to talk about ourselves more or something is like a chicken or egg question.”

I personally think  that our generation is hugely self-involved but also very self-reflective; willing to analyse and look at why we do things and their impact. The nature of social networking means we often communicate our every thought to hundreds, even thousands, something unique to our lifetime. The social aspect means we can instantly find people to LOL at our joke or relate to our soul searching heartbreak or we can encounter an antagonist who makes us justify our position, thus really thinking about why we believe what we’ve said.

Nance has even capitalised on this aspect by including Namik’s reactions to his initial short film.

This is far from a rom-com yet is inherently romantic and deeply funny; Nance’s narration is intuitive and self deprecating, he knows the audience will find his constant falling in love childish and instructs us not to laugh at a point we most definitely were. Namik’s explanations of her point of view I found hugely interesting as a female who has been in that position myself. It delves into that feeling of fear and validation and allows a female perspective into the situation. Even more comprehensively the film examines a young black male emotional psyche in a raw and exposed manner that I haven’t encountered in a long time.

A tad longer than necessary, perhaps emphasised by the use of so much repetition, would be my only criticism.

A creative and confident debut from Nance, I look forward to seeing what else he has to offer.

Picturehouse Cinemas did special screenings as part of their Discover Tuesday programming and Nance attended a Q&A at the screening at the Ritzy, and there were some good reviews, but other than that the film received little recognition from British cinemas, which is understandable in the context of a financial return – very little promotion meant a tiny audience, even on the only available day to watch. A terrible shame but still a successful indie film, that has done well on the international festival circuit and built a hum of underground buzz. Oh yeah and someone called Jay Z executive produced. Not bad.

**** 4/5

All images sourced from Google