In this retrospective look at Idris Elba’s directorial debut “Yardie“, Aml Ameen, who plays the lead role of Dennis “D” Campbell discusses how he prepared for the role, the film’s impact since its release and working alongside Idris Elba.
Vanessa Oliveira began her documentary filmmaking journey following the killing of her mother, child and grandfather. Speaking from her native Brazil, Vanessa Oliveira discusses her own journey in filmmaking, both as a way to discuss Afro-Brazilian culture, and also allowing her to process and understand more about life events she has been through. (A special thank you to Professor, Marcos Verdugo for interpreting this interview.)
Fiona Whitelaw has more than 20 years experience within the arts, including acting, screenwriting and theatre-making. For her latest project Fiona Whitelaw service as the screenwriter, producer and supporting actor in Acceptable Damage. Inspired by real-life events, Acceptable Damage, follows Aspergic teenager, Katy (Elinor Machen-Fortune) who looks to pursue her creative dreams, but faces harassment from a local gang.
Scales is a thriller, detailing a chaotic night between a boxer, his PR manager, an entrepreneur and a drug dealer. This episode of the Big Picture Film Club Podcast features the film’s director, Nathan Hannawin and the film’s co-lead / producer, Anthony Vander.
Scales is available to buy/rent on all major VOD platforms from Friday 27th November
Watch Episode 15 of the Big Picture Film Club Podcast below
Emmanuel Anyiam-Osigwe, MBE is the founding director of the British Urban Film Festival having started it in 2005. In that time, the festival has awarded 63 actors, actresses, writers, producers & directors and has delivered 7 annual industry programmes. The festival has screened over 500 films, including its’ own feature film ‘No Shade’ which Emmanuel executive produced in 2018.
Check out episode 14 of the Big Picture Film Club Podcast below
Oliver Murray is a writer/director, his latest documentary “Ronnie’s” tells the story behind the historic London Jazz club Ronnie Scott’s. The jazz club was founded in 1959 and has played host to a variety of legendary musicians such as Oscar Peterson, Sonny Rollins, Miles Davis, Ella Fitzgerald, Van Morrison, Chet Baker, Jimmy Hendrix and Dizzy Gillespie to name a few.
Ronnie’s will be available to UK viewers from Sunday 15th November on BBC4 and iPlayer. The film is available to US audiences when it screens as part of this year’s Doc NYC (virtual) Film Festival from 11th -19th November 2020.
Oliver Murray joins the Big Picture Film Club Podcast
Nuakai Aru is a documentary filmmaker, Muay Thai teacher (Kru), actor and model. His latest film Warrior Spirit: Forged In The Fires of Muay Thai is a documentary film about the amazing martial art known as Muay Thai or Thai Boxing – often referred to as the science of 8 limbs, 9 elements. Muay Thai itself originated in Thailand yet because of its popularity has spread around the globe becoming recognised as one of the world most effective fighting systems.
‘Solitary’ is a contained sci-fi film about a man who wakes up inside a room to discover he’s a prisoner sent into space to form Earth’s first colony, and worse – his cellmate Alana is hell-bent on destroying everything.
Writer / director, Luke Armstrong and lead actor Johnny Sachon talk about their new dystopian sci-fi thriller on the Big Picture Film Club.
Solitary is available everywhere on August 31st on digital and disc in all major retailers.
Big Picture Film Club Co-Founder, Presh Williams, was a guest on the Unplug with Ani Podcast for her Ignite Season. Presh spoke about the origins of Big Picture Film Club, motivations and what to look forward to on the platform moving forward.
Unplug with Ani is a podcast hosted by Anisa Butt were she chats with a new guest every week about motivation, mindset, behaviour and relationships.
Dr Parvinder Shergill is a psychiatrist working within the National Health Service, she is also an actor, writer, producer & director. In her interview with us she discussed mental health portrayal in films, the Covid-19 pandemic, her acting journey and upcoming projects.
Dr Parvinder Shergill (The Secret Psychiatrist) is a psychiatrist working within the National Health Service, she is also an actor, writer & producer. In her interview with us, she discussed mental health portrayal in films, the Covid-19 pandemic, her acting journey and upcoming projects.(apologies for any issues with sound)
Ahead of the release of his latest film, Liselotte Vanophem sat down with Lorcan Finnegan to talk about Vivarium, filming techniques and the future.
Liselotte Vanophem: Hi Lorcan, how are you?
Lorcan Finnegan: Yeah, I’m fine. Busy with the interviews.
LV: Congratulations on the film. How did you come up with the story for this film?
LF: Well, in 2011 we made a short film called Foxes and it was a supernatural story about a young couple who were trapped in this ghost estate in Ireland that was left abandoned. Apart from them, there was nobody else there. That was more of a supernatural story but the stories and ideas of that film were something that we wanted to expand upon more metaphorically in a sci-fi, ‘twilight zone’ type of film. That’s what we develop into a long feature film. Vivarium is different from Foxes but it has some similar ideas.
LV: The cast consists of big names such as Jesse Eisenberg and Imogen Poots but the actor who’s the most amazing one in this film is without a doubt Senan Jennings who plays the boy. How did you come across him?
LF: Getting the right actor for that part was always going to be challenging. We thought we were never going to find a little child who could do all of the things that we wrote about in the script. We got a bunch of self-tapes coming in and then I saw a lot of the actors as well. We were very lucky that we got Senan cause when he sent in his tape, it was so good. I asked him to do some other parts of the film and then he sent in another tape and again it was brilliant. We were like ‘ok, he got the part’.
He was great to work with. He was seven but when he read the
script, he completely understood it. After we told him that he got the part,
his mom said that they were going to supermarkets to watch people and copy
them. He just loved it.
LV: In this movie, Senan’s character shouts and screams a lot. How was it to make him do that on cue?
LF: Well, he just loved it. At some points, we were just trying to make him stop. I was worried about his throat and that he would lose his voice. He had no problem with it at all and he just went for it. That was another thing that he showed us during his auditioning tape.
LV: During this film, Imogen’s character needs to choose whether to let the boy live or die? What would you have done in that situation?
LF: I would save him as he’s still a living creature after all but it rationally also makes sense to not save him.
LV: How much input did the actors have regarding the lines and the script?
LF: Well, we talked a lot bout the script before shooting and made some changes to dialogue and we also cut some dialogue and scenes. We also wrote a few new scenes. When you’re developing a script, other people are involved and everyone has a few notes here and there and some input. Once we came to shoot it, we all kind of trusted each other and if the scene didn’t feel right then we would just change it and try something different.
LV: What was the first scene that you shot between the couple and the child because that probably must have been a very crucial one?
LF: It would probably have been the bedroom scenes during which the audience sees the boy for this first time. I remember Jesse saying that Senan was exactly as he imagined from the script but he never thought that we could find a kid who could do it.
LV: The houses in Yonder are the same. Green, neat and almost to perfect. How did you film them? Was it a green screen or on-location?
LF: Well, it’s a mixture of things. We’ve build sets with the facades of threes, houses, footpaths, gardens, and roads. Then we shot sets of that same thing to expand it to the back and then the set was scanned and made into 3D. A lot of it was 2D map paintings, sometimes it’s CGI and sometimes it’s 2D plates that are being composed together. It was a lot of different techniques that came together.
LV: What was the hardest part for you to film for this movie cause it’s a very complex movie technical wise it seems?
LF: Yes, it was indeed a very technical film to make and a bit tricky as well. The trickiest scene was probably the one in which they’re trying to drive out of the place. We only had a certain amount of sets and then we had to switch to location as well. Trying to make the lighting the same. The aerial shots were also shot in a different location again. Then we combined all of that to make it feel like one sequence. That was something that we have been working on for a long time.
LV: If you look back on the film now, what’s the scene that still gets you the most?
LF: I think it would be the last scene between Imogen and the boy. I also like the scene very much during which they’re talking about the clouds. Also, all the scenes with Jonathan Aris were so much fun.
LV: What do you hope that people will take away with them after seeing this film?
LF: Well, I hope that they will think it’s the best film they’ve seen in their lives. In this film, there are a lot of metaphors that are wrapped in a sci-fi story. Some people seem to enjoy it as a pure sci-fi movie and other people see parts of their own lives in it. I enjoy getting to know people their interpretations of the story and how they relate to the story. I just hope people will enjoy it.
LV: One last question: What’s next for you?
LF: I’m working on a film called Nocebo which a supernatural revenge thriller about fashion and the exploitation of the east by the west. I’m also working on another project called Goliath which is a reimagining of the story of David and Goliath and is set in the dystopian near future. It’s about creating monsters, starting wars and stealing resources.
We sat down with the Jenna Suru, writer, director and lead actor in The Golden Age (L’Âge d’Or), a French-language period film about two lovers who head to St Tropez, France in the ’60s to embark on an artistic project.
The Golden Age will be opening the London Independent Film Festival on Friday 13th March 2020.Tickets are available now.
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