Can you tell us a bit about yourself and your background in filmmaking? What inspired you to pursue a career in the film industry?
I’m a writer and director born/based in Leeds UK, I didn’t go to university but learnt independently making short films. I found film through my mum taking me to an animation workshop when I was younger run by the Leeds Young Film Festival, I was fascinated by the magic of the stop-motion process of Wallace and Gromit by bringing clay to life. It wasn’t until I was older when I did the BFI Film Academy did I think it could be a career.
What does being part of Berlinale Talents mean to you? Is there something about the city that resonates with your creative process?
I feel so lucky to be in the room. I’m gonna soak up everything I can, ask questions and listen, this comes at an interesting point as I’m deep in the writing process of my debut feature. I spent a bit of time in Berlin a few years ago, it feels like there’s an attitude to being creative without waiting for permission or being held back by barriers, which is very free.
How do you balance expressing your unique voice and creating something that can be recognised globally?
I feel I’m still working out my voice… I think the universality comes from story, which is the beauty of this medium. We can go into worlds we may know nothing about, experience it through a point of view we may never have understood before - and somehow see ourselves within it.
How does this year’s theme, "Common Tongues: Speaking Out in the Language of Cinema", resonate with your work and creative process?
My projects are always made for a specific person in mind that I’ve met or know, I want to give voice to those who are sometimes voiceless in cinema. I try to use new ways of storytelling to shine light on important issues or bring awareness to stories that I feel could go unheard. I find it fun to challenge audience expectations of what they might expect from a particular community or world.