Together Films is backing Naqqash Khalid’s debut feature, the satirical drama In Camera. It stars Nabhaan Rizwan (Mogul Mowgli), Amir El-Masry (The Crown) and Rory Fleck Byrne (BAFTA-winning This Is Going To Hurt). On 13 October 2023, the picture will celebrate its UK Premiere at the BFI London Film Festival 2023 in the first feature competition.
It was produced by Juliette Larthe (Prettybird) and multiple BAFTA-winning Mary Burke (Public Dreams), with Executive producers Eva Yates, Kristin Irving, Charlie Gatsky Sinclair and Claudia Yusef.
Toying with levels of realism and artifice, performance and fantasy, this striking debut moves at a dizzying pace. It follows Asian actor Aden (Rizawan) through auditions, warped gigs and bizarre role-playing sessions as he attempts to build a career and discover himself. Few films have tackled life as a jobbing artist, or the strangeness of UK modernity, with such uncompromising honesty and wit.
A Dream and a Nightmare in a Blender, the venture is Khalid’s first feature, which sees the filmmaker break with the norms of conventional filmmaking, creating a dialogue between the observer and the observed, making a satirical comment on contemporary race politics. What does it feel like to be followed? Who holds the power: the one looking or the one being looked at?
Watch our interview Naqqash, Nabhaan and Amir here:Â
“I’m deeply humbled and excited to share our film In Camera at the London Film Festival,” Naqqash says. “To me, a film exists when it’s seen and engaged with by an audience. A film is an invitation, a dialogue, a dance. A film should create friction, provoke feeling and thought, disrupt, challenge and reflect something about the world in which it comes from…and to do so, a film needs its audience.”
He further adds: “Watching the credits, a final time, before giving the film away, and seeing the names of everyone who put their labour into this was a really emotional experience for me. I’m so grateful for/to everyone who trusted me during this process. I honestly can’t wait to share all our work. I want to thank the programming team for inviting us to the festival and for being a home for its World Premiere. It feels like the beginning of one journey and the end of another.”
“I also want to thank BBC Film, the BFI, and Uncommon Studios for all their support, especially Eva Yates and Claudia Yusef for championing the ambition of this film from the beginning.”
The film’s premiere takes place on 13th October at the BFI London Film Festival.
