Film London Borough Film Challenge hopeful Faryal Velmi discusses the highs and lows of putting together her latest short.
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As regular LWLies readers will know, we’re interested in more than just meaningless celebrity gossip and exhausted Hollywood conjecture.
For us, cinema is not an exclusive or privileged art but an organic, limitless medium that is shaped and informed as much by independent, autonomous individuals as by major studios and box office-driven executives.
That’s why every week we’re going to be giving up-and-coming grass-roots filmmakers a platform to present their work.
Who are you and why have you made a film?
My name is Faryal Velmi and I made my short film What You Looking At? as part of the Film London ‘Borough Film Challenge’. It was one of five scripts picked by the Southern Exposure Film fund.
What’s your pitch?
A mouthy drag queen and a feisty woman in a burka getting trapped in a lift… and realise they have more in common than they thought.
What kind of experience do you have?
I made a short film last year called Pictures of Zain that has shown at a number of film festivals around the world.
What makes your film stand out from the crowd?
Well hopefully the two characters! It’s not often you see drag queen and a woman in a burka in the same space. My film is about delving into the rich tapestry of multi-cultural London and pulling out two very different people who would never normally meet.
Where are you in the process?
We have completed the film and it has been selected as part of the Film London Best of Borough Film Awards. The film is up for the Jury and the Audience award and the winners will be announced at BAFTA on September 7.
Working with some great cast and crew, building a set with moveable walls… and of course watching the finished film at the BFI Southbank with the other Southern Exposure film fund shorts.
All the usual of grassroots low-budget filmmaking… The hustling and begging and borrowing of equipment, location and people’s time. Me having to wrap a quilt around a dirty water pipe to make sure it didn’t drip during takes…
What advice would you pass on to anyone following in your footsteps?
Trust your instincts and make sure you learn from your mistakes. Above all have faith in the story you want to tell.
What are your hopes for the future?
My dream is to make feature films – and I am developing a feature film idea based around the two characters of WYLA.
Watch and vote WYLA now at filmlondon.org.uk and follow the film on Facebook and Twitter .
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