In Camera London Film Festival Q&A
The thought-provoking drama by writer and director Naqqash Khalid “In Camera” premiered at the BFI London Film Festival, following its debut at Karlovy Vary earlier this year. The film marks an impressive feature directorial debut for Naqqash Khalid.
Produced by Juliette Larthe for Prettybird who developed the script with Naqqash Khalid, and by Mary Burke for Public Dreams, “In Camera” is financed by BBC Film, BFI (awarding National Lottery funding) and in association with Uncommon Creative Studio. It was developed with BBC Film.
Twenty-something Aden (Nabhaan Rizwan) spends most of his time recording self-tapes for parts he never gets. After he is sent out on a series of nightmarish commercial auditions, with rejection upon rejection, he takes it upon himself to find a new part to play. “In Camera” uses the metaphor of acting and role-playing to explore deeper themes of identity, representation, and cycles of violence in society. The post-screening Q&A provided illuminating commentary from Khalid and his talented cast.
When asked about the challenging audition scenes, lead actor Nabhaan Rizwan explained: “Every audition I’ve been to it’s a weird thing for humans to go through…you do often see the same guys…it feels like there should be a camaraderie but there isn’t because there’s this notion of “there can only be one”. That pits people against each other which in itself is incredibly political so we wanted to show that in a symbolic manner.”
Co-star BAFTA-winning Amir El Masry added: “Starting out for sure, you do get boxed into a certain category and you aim to get out of that box and to be not seen as a wild card and just be seen equally…I think we’re always trying to push boundaries and not get put in a box or typecast.”
An English literature graduate of Salford University in Manchester, England, who began his working life as a lecturer in the university’s School of Arts and Media, Khalid elaborated on developing the film’s striking visual style with cinematographer Tasha Back: “To me every film is an invention, you’re creating a language and grammar that’s specific to that film…I wanted the world to be clinical and hostile but I wanted us to have this really shared intimacy that was never voyeuristic.”
He continued: “I knew the camera was going to be very close to [Rizwan’s] face…I didn’t want anyone to feel like they were looked at. I wanted to see them…A lot of the time I’m trying to create the best mode of articulation of a performance.”
Rizwan praised the “incredible DP” Back, saying “by the end we were like dance partners…there’s a lot of trust and transparency.”
When asked about the robust and immersive soundtrack, Khalid explained: “The film was structured as an album…every scene was a track and it was punctuated by hooks…Music and sound allowed there to be a certain violence present that wasn’t necessarily visually present.”
He added insight into his writing process, saying: “I don’t think I’m a writer really, I think I’m a director who writes…when I’m writing I’m writing with a specific shot type in mind.”
Lead producer Juliette Larthe also spoke of the reason for taking on “In Camera” as her first feature: “It has been historically a biased industry based on privilege with the majority of work made with an objectifying lens. There hasn’t been much agency for any of us in the past. It was time and I’m so proud that In Camera is as solid and cinema redefining as I needed it to be.”
The UK release dates are to be confirmed in due course.
Editor in Chief of Ikon London Magazine, journalist, film producer and founder of The DAFTA Film Awards (The DAFTAs).
