This was the penultimate movie I watched at Manchester Film Festival; I didn’t really know what to expect but was pleasantly surprised. It’s a worthy addition to a great roster of movies that were on show for the week.
Persian/Indian Director Sasha Nathwani has mostly made his name making short films, and his first feature, which is a coming-of-age story, shows that he is ready to make the leap to full length productions. He really has done a pretty good job.
The opening scene grabs your attention with a voice over from ambitious teen Ziba (Deba Hekmat) talking about planet earth, which then cuts to her interview to land a place at University College London to study astrophysics. It is clear this is what she is passionate about.
Ziba arrives with her friends, Tara (Lydia Fleming), Shea (Solly McLeod) and Merf (Jay Lycurgo) at school on A levels results day and it becomes clear she has made a very detailed plan how to celebrate their upcoming futures.
The story does stress that Ziba had struggled that summer with mental illness, ADHD and maybe alcohol too and the truth and challenges of her becoming an adult gets more complicated. Ziba has made this precise celebratory planned day to have the freedom with her friends and by the end of the day they hope to see a rare celestial event together.
Does Ziba have a secret plan for the end of the day, when midnight comes?
This is the heart and soul of the narrative, one day in the life of a teenager with hopes and dreams like all of us. Of course, like life, it won’t be the perfect day.
What makes her slightly annoyed is that on her special day out someone that she doesn’t know from the year above called Malcom, now in an Academy Training Programme at QPR joins the group.
However, Ziba watches a humiliating moment between Malcolm and his mum where he tries to have an intimate conversation with her that turns sour. The film shows how a bond begins to grow between them as they become closer, and their budding romance adds meaning to her life.
I asked a question or two to actors Deba and Lydia at the end of the movie at Manchester and asked what their favourite scene to film was. It was interesting to hear their answers.
Deba said, “going back into classrooms, it felt like a school trip and at that age that was my favourite time.”
Lydia said, “The car scenes, it was hot, and it was completely ridiculous having a camera stuck in the middle, and it was one of the things that we first shot, and I loved it. The lake scene was also a lot of fun as there was a storm halfway through the day. Me and Deba were begging to stay in the water.”
The film locations were brilliant, and you get to see in and around London, which is a nice touch as it helps you feel connected to the characters.
The photography was gritty but beautiful and you felt right there with the cast, it was as if you were on the day out with them.
It was nice to have a couple of lines of Persian mixed in with English as it fleshed out Deba’s back story and as half-Lebanese myself the falafel scene was right up my street!
The message of the film is that life really can be unscripted, chaotic and fearful, but that in a way is what makes it so precious.
The performances without exception were filled with elegance, intelligence and perhaps most importantly given the subject matter, authentic.
Make this film part of your special day and search it out at cinemas, you won’t be disappointed.
Its out 4th April, everywhere.