Meet The Directors: Behind Film4’s Foresight Anthology
Foresight is a compilation of short films set in the UK that imagine the future for Black and Brown characters. Commissioned by Film4, the anthology will debut on 9th October at the London Film Festival. Ahead of the premiere, we spoke to each of the five directors about their work, their artistic intentions and what it took to bring these incredible stories to life on the screen.
Elliot Barnes-Worrell, director of Digging
Can you describe your journey to where you are now?
I saw a discrepancy between the world in which I lived and the world I was reading in scripts sent to me or the TV and films I saw. My world was colourful and diverse; I was hungry for that world to be portrayed on our screens. So I decided to write the world I wanted to see, to explore the faces and voices that are so often left out of the narrative.
Please offer a brief synopsis of the short film you created for Foresight.
Four friends dive into each others’ memories to settle an argument about what really happened in the past.
What are the key themes of the film and how did you express these?
Digging is a film about growth, loss, love and family. This is shown in the relationships between our characters and the tactile way in which they treat one another.
How did the production come together and what were artistic choices you had to consider whilst making the film?
I met up with Hasti (co-writer), an incredible Iranian poet who is passionate about sci-fi. We talked about what we loved about science fiction, alongside the resilience and power in people of colour. We knew we wanted to show that. We also wanted to portray an analogue future, as opposed to a digital one. Once we had this language for the story, we tried to get it all into the film in a romantic and poignant way. I think this is shown in the colour palette, performances and music.
What do you hope audiences will take from the film?
I hope people feel empowered and moved.
The films in this anthology are all set in the future. What would be your dream project to work on in the future and why?
I love genre and think we deserve genre with queer and Black and Brown faces in it. I’d love to do a heist film; a zombie film; a martial arts film; a road movie. Explore the genres we love with the voices and faces we don’t usually see in them.
Nadia Latif, director of They Heard Him Shout Allahu Akbar
Can you describe your journey to where you are now?
I was a theatre director for about a decade before moving into film. The move mainly came from wanting to reach audiences in more democratic and specific ways. I was lucky enough to be supported by the BFI from day one. They gave me the funding to make my first short film White Girl. That opened the door to making features, and last year I was invited to take part in the Sundance Screenwriters Lab with the film Welcome (written by Omar El Khairy who also wrote White Girl). Now I’m gearing up to shoot my first feature early next year, The Man In My Basement, an adaptation of the Walter Mosley novel.
Please offer a brief synopsis of the short film you created for Foresight.
It’s a film about a Muslim man called Zaid, recently released from prison, who as part of his release, has a computer chip implanted in his arm.
What are the key themes of the film and how did you express these?
I guess the film is really about empathy and our individual bias - conscious or unconscious. The film never makes clear why Zaid was in prison in the first place - what’s more important is that he has spent time inside, and there is an assumption about Muslim men that they are constantly vulnerable to radicalisation. But what makes us more radical than the constant scrutiny of the state? How would you feel if someone watched or controlled your every move?
How did the production come together and what were artistic choices you had to consider whilst making the film?
Even though we shot the film just after the very first lockdown, I’m really proud that none of our artistic choices changed or were compromised by shooting during Covid. The script was always focussed on Zaid and I was really keen to shoot it focussing on portraiture and stillness.
What do you hope audiences will take from the film?
I hope they gain empathy for the situation for a lot of Muslims living in the UK right now - and embrace the irony of watching a film about being watched. Also to really think about how exhausting it is to live under constant scrutiny and the expectation and anticipation of violence.
Adeyemi Michael, director of The Future Isn’t What It Used To Be
Can you describe your journey to where you are now?
Twenty years ago I left school with a dream of working in the industry, initially to be an actor. Then I realised my skills were best suited elsewhere, so turned my attention to filmmaking. Two films that have helped define my career and won an array of awards are Sodiq and Entitled.
Please offer a brief synopsis of the short film you created for Foresight.
By the year 2080, climate change has forced human beings from the Earth, and those who remain live an isolated, nomadic existence. In the desolate landscape, Dez forages for survival until they unearth a morsel of the past which leads them on an unexpected mission.
What are the key themes of the film and how did you express these?
The key themes in the film are isolation, togetherness, community, gender and hope. I wanted for our audience to really feel each character's state of isolation, but that there was an opportunity for community. To feel that, if they tapped into their innate humanity, that there could be a hope of having something more than what they all seem to be left with.
How did the production come together and what were artistic choices you had to consider whilst making the film?
The artistic choices were informed by references from films such as Border, which establish strange yet primal relationships between two characters. I knew I needed for the relationship [between the two protagonists] to feel primal as the starting point of our artistic journey in the film, particularly because the film has no dialogue.
Visually we knew we wanted to have expansive wide shots that really allow our characters to be rooted in their isolation, then when we see them together to either use really tight shots or creeping zooms, pans and tilts to establish their proximity and connection (or potential connection).
What do you hope audiences will take from the film?
The fact that we need each other.
Akinola Davies Jr, director of X US
Can you describe your journey to where you are now?
My journey began wanting to be a journalist. Then I was fortunate enough to assist fashion photographers and numerous filmmakers on content, events, music videos, fashion, commercials… I developed an art practice and then finally was encouraged to find a home in narrative.
In terms of projects I'm proud of, there are a few seminal ones. Marks Of Worship, a video I made for Klein, Unity Is Strength, my film for Kenzo, Charcoal Baby, a collab with Dev Hynes, Black To Life a project for the BBC, and recently Lizard, my BAFTA nominated and Sundance-winning short.
What are the key themes of your film and how did you express these?
X US is a film about the travel anxiety of two brothers as they migrate from Earth to a new settlement in Titan. It was formulated during the time when there was a lot of conversation around the Windrush scandal, so I think subconsciously it’s about industrial migration.
How did the production come together and what were artistic choices you had to consider whilst making the film?
A lot of my research into classic sci-fi were all these black and white films - but what wasn’t present were any people of colour, especially Black people. So I wanted to make something on film which centred Black people in sci-fi. Equally I wanted to offer this as my contribution to classic cinema; to see Black people in classic sci-fi story.
What do you hope audiences will take from the film?
I never want to tell people what to think. I only want them to create dialogue from what they see, and converse around it.
The films in this anthology are all set in the future. What would be your dream project to work on in the future and why?
I want to make films for Disney! I want to make films that are inclusive - that all family members can watch with each other. Films that trigger conversations about the world we live in.
Jeremy Ngatho Cole, director of Twice As Good
Can you describe your journey to where you are now?
Long and strange. I’m a filmmaker who’s worked across nearly every short form genre you can think of - as an editor, graphic designer, animator and VFX artist.
My first documentary in 2012, A Day In The Life Of My Stepdad, was a documentary about a boy’s inspirational relationship with his stepdad. I’ve since worked in TV and the music world, most notably directing the first three seasons of Four To The Floor for Channel 4 and as creative director for Little Simz.
Please offer a brief synopsis of the short film you created for Foresight.
The night before her son’s seventh birthday, Grace finds an intruder in her kitchen. As she discovers who the intruder is, she must decide how to protect her son while navigating the complexities of Black parenthood in Britain.
What are the key themes of the film and how did you express these?
Black parenthood. When I was a kid, we lived in a white working class area and my Mum would always tell me that I had to do better than my white friends if I wanted to exist in the world on their level. I knew about racism from a young age, but this always pissed me off. I remember feeling annoyed that my Mum would agree with the theory that I’m effectively half as good because I’m not white.
Now as a parent, I find myself giving the same lectures my Mum gave me and seeing the vacant look in my child's eyes. While we want to tell them that life might be extra hard on them at times, we need to remind them that this isn’t their problem, and in fact they may already be twice as good.
How did the production come together and what were artistic choices you had to consider whilst making the film?
The production came together fairly quickly. We had only one-and-a-half days to shoot a 12 page script, and this was the week before the first lockdown when no one had a clue what was going on in the world. We were all walking on sand - expecting the shoot to be called off at any minute.
What do you hope audiences will take from the film?
I hope they can understand that there are many complexities to being a parent to Black child in this country. Neither character in my film is wrong or right, but there are many truths to be understood. Even if just one parent is going through the same conflict and can take away something from this film, then I’m happy.
Foresight plays as part of London Film Festival on Saturday 9th October, as well as at HOME Manchester on 28th October, Sheffield Showroom on 3rd November and the Glasgow Film Theatre on 21st November via We Are Parable. The collection will also be available to watch on Film4 and All 4 in November.
Foresight was produced by Fiona Lamptey for Fruit Tree Media. Yaw Basoah produced Digging. Foresight was also supported by the Young Audiences Content Fund from the BFI and financed by the UK Government.
Interviews by Georgia Graham
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