MK3D Archives - HLA Agency

Mark Kermode Live in 3D

Mark Kermode Live in 3D is a monthly stage show at the BFI Southbank in which Mark Kermode welcomes a couple of guests onto the stage to have conversations about what has been happening in the world of film, and to delve deeper into particular movies or topics.

Affectionately known as MK3D, the show is lively and interactive. Mark brings his trademark wit and passion to the stage and talks to film stars and character actors, high-profile established directors and young aspiring talent. Diverse and eclectic, always passionate, informed and fun, with Q&As and clips, it’s guaranteed to rekindle your love for cinema, put a smile on your face and a spring in your step.

MK3D is an HLA Agency production.

Mark Kermode on stage at Mark Kermode Live in 3D on Monday 24 June 2019 at BFI Southbank, London. Picture by Julie Edwards.

We are delighted to have Kodak join us as our special supporters of the show.

Below is a list of the shows you missed – now available online as part of the Kermode On Film podcast.

Mark Kermode Online in 3D | Show 51 | March 2020

Our first ever digital edition of the duly renamed Mark Kermode Online in 3D was just as packed as our usual live shows. Joining Mark from across the globe, our seven guests brought the same animated brilliance to their video interviews as can be counted upon in an evening at the BFI Southbank.

Gugu M’batha Raw joined Mark first, talking about her starring role in the recently digitally released Misbehaviour. All the way from LA, she talked about the many-sided story of the 1970 Miss World protest told by the film, and its relevance to today. Plus, she and Mark revisit her breakthrough role in Amma Assante’s Belle.

Bringing the “party on the top, comfort on the bottom” with his tuxedo and PJs videocall combo, Jack Howard joined Mark next. They talked lockdown life, isolation film clubs, and in a truly shocking admission Jack revealed that he’d never seen The Exorcist. Frankly, we’re surprised Mark didn’t just hang up.

Sharing his film club choices too was comedy legend and ‘Smartest Man In The World’ Greg Proops. Another of our guests calling from California, he also gave us a peak at the surprising result of a garage clear-out – his lockdown ‘shrine’.

Show day marked the digital release of Calm With Horses, Nick Rowland’s gritty drama set amongst small-town crime in rural Ireland. Patching in its stars Niahm Algar and Cosmo Jarvis, Mark got the inside perspective on the development process behind their characters Ursula and Arm ̶ with the help of crisps and cans by the canal. That’s a method approach we could get behind…

Translating our regular ‘Here’s The Thing’ feature into the lexicon of lockdown, Mark interviewed brand new BFI CEO Ben Roberts, who’s had to incorporate a global pandemic into his handover. He shared details of the BFI’s Britain In Lockdown video preservation project, and offered his reassurances about the future of cinema beyond.

Meera Syal joined Mark for ‘The Film That Changed My Life’, choosing Douglas Sirk’s Immitation Of Life for itscompassionate approach to identity and belonging. Treating us to her ‘Guilty Pleasure’ too, she revisited the guiltlessly wonderful When Harry Met Sally.

The show stuck to its trademark ‘Sound & Vision’ finale, playing out to Frances Ha’s joyous invocation of Bowie’s ‘Modern Love’. We wish we could all skip down the Southbank again, but until then you can join us online for the next digital MK3D. For extended versions of tonight’s interviews, check out the Kermode On Film podcast on all platforms, or on Twitter and Instagram @kermodeonfilm.

Mark Kermode Live in 3D | Show 50 | March 2020

This month’s MK3D was an especially lively evening to mark a very special occasion: our 50^th show. A ‘Sound & Vision’ extravaganza, the night celebrated those golden moments when music and film intersect to create goosebumpy cinematic perfection ̶ and we were thrilled to share it with some exceptional guests dear to us at MK3D.

First up, Mark’s partners in skiffle The Dodge Brothers – tonight consisting of guitarists Mike Hammond and Aly Hirji, with Neil Brand on the keys ̶ joined him onstage. Bringing back the magic of the pre-talkie era for a few moments, they performed a live improvised score to the 1930 silent film City Girl. Neil stuck around onstage to revel with Mark in his favourite musical screen moments, from the sweeping orchestral notes of Murder On The Orient Express to the spine-tingling synths of Close Encounters Of The Third Kind.

Director Amma Assante joined Mark next to discuss her upcoming project Mrs America, a 1970s-set drama about the backlash against the American Equal Rights Amendment. Like Neil, she shares her favourite movie music moment – an altogether more comic choice.

A Bond-themed number was the favourite of composer David Arnold, who also took to the piano to perform his own captivating piece inspired by the nation’s favourite secret agent. Sanjeev Bhaskar showed his range with picks from Hollywood and Bollywood alike, and final guest Jason Isaacs was his usual sweary self with a scene from The Godfather and a gangster anecdote to match.

A raucous rockabilly playout of Rocket In My Pocket saw the night end on a high note, with the whole gang – and producer Hedda – jumping onstage to join in. Here’s to the next 50!

Mark Kermode Live in 3D | Show 49 | February 2020

February’s MK3D show saw Mark chat to three brilliant and wildly differing guests.

First up was Finnish director J-P Valpeakää, whose unique new film Dogs Don’t Wear Pants makes a study of grief and BDSM. He describes the feature as “a romantic comedy”, but it’s certainly unlike any we’ve seen before. Dismissing Marathon Man’s infamously horrifying tooth-pulling scene as “too short”, and disdaining the much beloved Forest Gump as the worst film ever made, his searingly dry wit had the BFI’s NFT1 in stitches.

We also heard from the fabulous, filter-less actress and filmmaker Kerry Fox, who plays Bella in Jessica Hausner’s plant-based thriller Little Joe. Having worked with numerous female directors from Jane Campion to Billie Piper, she shared her experiences of women behind the camera ̶ and how they inspired her to realise her longstanding aspiration of becoming a director herself. As well as treating us to reminiscences of her work on Shallow Grave and Intimacy, she put to Mark her choice for ‘The Film That Changed My Life’: Nicolas Winding Refn’s Drive.

The delightful James Norton was our final guest of the evening. Star of the new Soviet investigative thriller Mr Jones, he discussed his encounter with the grim history of the Holodomor and the real-life journalist Gareth Jones who struggled to break the story in the UK. We also heard tales from the set of Little Women, and of his role as Stephen Ward in TV’s The Trial Of Kristine Keeler. Plus, his pick has to go down with the best of the ‘Guilty Pleasures’: Robin Hood Prince Of Thieves, with special love for Alan Rickman.

With his signature musical hommage – this time from Little Shop Of Horrors and a plant even creepier than ‘Little Joe’ ̶ Mark wrapped up another buoyant night at the BFI.
Photos by Bethany Hobbs

Mark Kermode Live in 3D | Show 48 | January 2020

We kicked off the fifth year of MK3D in style with fantastic guests.

For Coming Attractions, our first guest was the honourable Kristin Scott Thomas, who talked about her new film, Military Wives, which is based on the incredible true story of a group of women who start a chair whilst their partners are serving in Afghanistan. Mark and Kristin also discussed her previous work, including Four Weddings and a Funeral and Leaving (for which she won a prestigious Kermode award). Kristin also took part in one of the show’s most-loved features, Guilty Pleasures, selecting Ridley Scott’s Alien.

Next up, we had another Coming Attractions in the form of Alfred George Bailey and his new documentary, Show Me The Picture: The Story of Jim Marshall. A film about the legendary photographer who captured some of the most iconic moments of the 60s and 70s from the heights of the Rock and Roll music era to the Civil Rights movement. Alfred discussed the journey to getting the film made, which included his previous film, Gregory Porter Don’t Forget Your Music. After the show, Alfred headed straight to the Royal Albert Hall for a private screening of the film, which follows an exhibition of Marshall’s photography in London.

In Here’s The Thing Mark paid tribute to the late Kobe Bryant, who tragically passed away very recently, mentioning his Academy Award winning Animated Short film, Dear Basketball. Mark also highlighted the current Save Prospect Cottage campaign to save Derek Jarman’s house. Mark welcomed Jack Howard on-stage to discuss the recent Kermode on Film Live recording at the IFFR in Rotterdam.

Mark turned to the audience for Ask the Audience, and answered questions about what films to see in 2020, whether or not the infamous Kermode awards are making a return (which they are), and if he could elaborate further on his five-star review of Armando Iannucci’s new film, The Personal History of David Copperfield. This led very nicely to…

Our final guest of the night was the hilarious Armando Iannucci, who joined Mark on-stage to talk about his new film, which stars Dev Patel, Tilda Swinton, and Hugh Laurie. Mark and Armando discussed the film and the outstanding Chaplin-esque lead performance given by Patel, as well as the terrific performance from Jairaj Varsnai, who plays the young David Copperfield. Mark also talked with Armando about his previous films including The Death of Stalin and his hugely successful television show The Thick of It, which included a comical cameo of Mark and his “massive hands”. For his Guilty Pleasure, Armando selected Roland Emmerich’s Independence Day starring Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum.

Finally, Mark ended the show with a poignant and hilarious tribute to the late Terry Jones, who passed away last week.

Mark Kermode Live in 3D | Show 47 | December 2019

Rounding off the show’s fourth year, the final MK3D of 2019 featured great guests and some festive treats. Thank you to our special supporters, Kodak.

Mark welcomed the audience and began the show with a Q&A, which saw the audience quiz Mark on various topics, including Spielberg’s upcoming West Side Story remake.

Our first guest was the terrific Taron Egerton, star of Rocketman, for which he received rave reviews and nominations for an array of awards, including a Golden Globe. Taron talked about his performance in the Elton John biopic directed by Dexter Fletcher (who came on the show last month). Mark and Taron talked about how the film came about, and the preparation involved in taking on the role. They also talked about Eddie the Eagle, Kingsman, and Kingsman: The Golden Circle, and discussed how monumental Rocketman has been, and how it will influence the choices Taron makes going forward.

Up next in Here’s The Thing Mark discussed the impending release of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, taking the opportunity to reiterate how brilliant The Last Jedi was, despite the nasty criticism it received both during and after its release. Mark also paid tribute to Danny Aiello, star of Do The Right Thing and Moonstruck, who sadly passed away earlier in the month.

Next up, actress Emily Beecham came on to talk about her new film, Little Joe, for which she won the Best Actress prize at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. Directed by Jessica Hausner, the film opens in February and sees Emily play a single mother who works in plant breeding facility. Emily talked about her Cannes win and the extraordinary experience of making the film. Mark also talked to Emily about her role in Hail, Caesar! alongside Ralph Fiennes and Alden Ehrenreich, and asked about Emily’s upcoming films, including Cruella which stars Emma Stone and Emma Thompson and is a live-action origin tale of Cruella de Vil.

To get in the festive spirit, and inspired by the recent success of Knives Out, Mark played a Christmas parlour game with the audience in which various pictorial clues came up on-screen and the audience could guess which whodunnit film they related to!

In last month’s show, Mark exclusively revealed that the BFI are hosting a screening of Mark Jenkin’s Bait in January featuring a live-score by award-winning Cornish-Welsh musician Gwenno Saunders. Gwenno joined Mark on-stage to talk about writing the score, and her relationship with Cornish music. Gwenno treated the audience to a performance of her song Tir Ha Mor (land and sea) which features on her album Le Kov, which is sung entirely in Cornish. Gwenno returned to the stage and taught the audience her infamous, vegan friendly Cornish cheese chant, Eus Keus?

Continuing with the musical theme, Mark talked about his upcoming ‘A Hollywood Christmas’ concert at the Royal Albert Hall, and treated the audience to an exclusive preview of his rendition of Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town on the double bass.

This month’s List-O-Mania was a festive extravaganza which saw Mark give his Top Twelve Christmas musical moments from the movies. The list included choices from lesser-seen Christmas films including Tangerine and Black Nativity, as well as songs from The Snowman, It’s A Wonderful Life, Love, Actually and Meet Me in St. Louis.

Mark ended the show in style with an audience singalong of Blue Christmas, accompanied by Mark on the piano.

Mark Kermode Live in 3D | Show 46 | November 2019

This month’s MK3D was so jam-packed that it made our 46th edition the longest running show (so far). All of tonight’s guests have been involved in projects that were shot on Kodak, who are our special supporters!

We began with Here’s The Thing in which Mark exclusively revealed an upcoming screening of Mark Jenkin’s Bait at BFI Southbank, accompanied by a live score from award-winning musician, Gwenno Saunders. Mark also paid tribute to the great actor and producer, Robert Evans, who passed away last month. In cinemas now and on Netflix from Friday (29th November), Mark flagged-up Jérémy Clapin’s brilliant animation, I Lost My Body. Mark also mentioned John Pilger’s new documentary, The Dirty War on the NHS, and reminded that it is the final few days in which you can register to vote! Finally, Mark flagged up his upcoming show at the Royal Albert Hall, ‘A Hollywood Christmas’. This will see Mark and the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra perform an array of festive film scores, from the likes of Elf, The Nightmare Before Christmas, and Love, Actually.

For Coming Attractions, our first guest was the sublime Lesley Manville, who talked about her new film, Ordinary Love, in which she co-stars with Liam Neeson. Directed by Lisa Barros D’Sa and Glenn Leyburn, whose previous work includes Good Vibrations, Ordinary Love charts a middle-aged couple and their journey as Lesley’s character is diagnosed with breast cancer. Mark and Lesley also talked about working with Mike Leigh, and her award-winning performance in Another Year. Mark asked Lesley about her experience of working with Paul Thomas Anderson on her academy-award nominated role in Phantom Thread. Mark ended the interview by urging people to see Ordinary Love, and mentioned Lesley’s upcoming role in The Visit, which opens at the National Theatre early next year.

Next up, the incomparable Edgar Wright took on one of the show’s most well-loved features, Guilty Pleasures. Mark touched on the multitude of brilliant films that Edgar has directed, including Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, Scott Pilgrim v. the World, and Baby Driver. Edgar is currently working on not one, but two, films: a psychological-horror set in central London starring Thomasin McKenzie and Anya Taylor-Joy, called Last Night in Soho, and a documentary about the band, Sparks. Mark revealed we had asked Edgar to choose a film for The Film That Changed My Life, but Edgar sent through six choices (An American Werewolf in London, Raising Arizona, Carrie, The Driver, Evil Dead II, and The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly). Instead, Mark focused on Edgar’s guilty pleasure, Michael Winner’s The Sentinel. Edgar adeptly spoke of his complicated love for the film, the trailer of which inspired his own Don’t trailer. Edgar even read aloud from Michael Winner’s autobiography, to share an excruciating anecdote from it.

Mark turned to the audience next for Ask the Audience, and answered questions about which films he is most and least looking forward to seeing in 2020, about Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut, and the recent controversy over Vue’s decision to pull Blue Story.

The brilliant guests just kept on coming, and Maxine Peake was next for The Film That Changed My Life. Mark asked Maxine about her plethora of work, including her latest film Fanny Lye Deliver’d, which premiered at this year’s BFI London Film Festival. Maxine also spoke of her work in The Falling, Gwen, and Funny Cow. She also touched on Lesley Manville’s earlier comments about working with Mike Leigh, and the great experience she had on Peterloo. Mark then turned to Maxine’s choice: John Cassavetes’s Gloria. Expressing her admiration for the great Gena Rowlands, Maxine talked about the kinds of roles on offer for mature actresses.

Our final guest of the night was Dexter Fletcher, actor and director of Caravaggio, Wild Bill, Sunshine on Leith, and Rocketman. Mark congratulated Dexter on the great Rocketman. They talked about Dexter’s early work as an actor, including his role in David Lynch’s The Elephant Man. Mark brought the focus to Dexter’s role in Fernando Trueba’s The Dream of the Mad Monkey – and Dexter raved about the film that changed his world-view, professionally: Emir Kusturica’s Black Cat, White Cat.

Mark Kermode Live in 3D | Show 45 | October 2019

Mark opened the show and welcomed the audience with his usual Q&A, in which he offered his thoughts on an array of topics, including remake culture, Scorsese vs. Marvel, and Joker. He also talked about the films he saw at this year’s BFI London Film Festival, including Knives Out, for which Mark hosted a screen talk with writer-director, Rian Johnson.

Mark was thrilled to introduce Kodak as our very first special supporter, referencing the brilliant work that Kodak do. Mentioning the great success of Mark Jenkin’s Bait, which was shot on Kodak stock, Mark revealed how Jenkin’s film has become the highest grossing Cornish film ever and explained the importance of shooting on film.

Believe it or not, it has been 21 years since Mark and Nick first worked together on The Fear of God, a documentary about William Friedkin’s The Exorcist, and to celebrate this anniversary, the extended ‘festival cut’ has been added to BBC iPlayer and is available to watch now.

Referring to Ang Lee’s Gemini Man and Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman, Mark offered his views on ‘youthification’, the new trend which digitally de-ages actors by using footage of said actors from when they were younger. Most notably, Robert De Niro and Will Smith have recently been ‘youthified’.

Our first guest was director, Wash Westmoreland, who was President of the Official Competition Jury at this year’s BFI London Film Festival. Mark and Wash spoke of this year’s competition winner, which included Monos, which won the Best Film Award (decided by Wash’s jury). Other winners at this year’s festival included Mati Diop’s Atlantics and Rubika Shah’s White Riot, which won the First Feature and Documentary competitions respectively. Wash talked about his new film, Earthquake Bird, which stars Alicia Vikander and arrives on Netflix in November. Mark also asked Wash about his previous work, including Colette and Still Alice (for which Julianne Moore won her Best Actress Oscar). Mark extolled the virtues of Wash’s early films,Quinceañera, and Wash promised to come back to the BFI and introduce a screening of the film, alongside Mark.

Up next, Mark welcomed director Tom Harper, whose new film The Aeronauts, is out in early November. Reuniting Felicity Jones and Eddie Redmayne, the film charts the journey of a headstrong scientist and wealthy young widow who carry out a balloon expedition in an attempt to fly higher than anyone in history. Mark also congratulated Tom on the great success of Wild Rose, which has recently won 3 Scottish BAFTAs, including Best Actress and Best Writer for Jessie Buckley and Nicole Taylor, both of whom came on the show earlier in the year.

Inspired by Mike Flanagan’s Doctor Sleep, a sequel to Stephen King’s novel The Shining, this month’s List-O-Mania saw Mark give his top 10 useless and unnecessary prequels and sequels, ranging from Men in Black II to John Boorman’s 1977 follow-up to Mark’s favourite film…Exorcist II: The Heretic.

Our final guest was the wonderful Joanna Hogg, who spoke about the success of her recent film, The Souvenir, starring Honor Swinton Byrne and Tom Burke. Joanna also talked about the film’s sequel, The Souvenir: Part II, which she is currently editing. They about her previous work, including Archipelago and Exhibition, before talking about Joanna’s passion for musicals. Inspired by the BFI’s Musicals season, which is currently on, Joanna talked about the great Bob Fosse, and his films Sweet Charity and All That Jazz in particular. Joanna revealed she would love to make a musical in the future, so watch this space…

Mark paid tribute to the glorious Make ‘Em Laugh sequence from Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen’s classic Singin’ in the Rain, recently re-released in cinemas across the UK as part of the BFI Musicals season.

Mark Kermode Live in 3D | Show 44 | September 2019

Just back from serving on the ‘Fantastique Film’ jury at Strasbourg’s film festival, Mark talks about the joys of judging, and his favourite film at the festival, Dogs Don’t Wear Pants – a Finnish film about grief and dominatrices.

Next he asks fellow critic Peter Bradshaw his recommendations for the London Film Festival, which are Monos (soundtrack by Mica Levy), Sarah Gavron’s Rocks, and the closing film, Scorsese’s The Irishman. Peter’s book, The Films That Made Me… has just been released and Mark takes Peter to task on films on which their opinions differ: Synecdoche New York, The Twilight Saga and Antichrist, and they bond over their shared loves We Need to Talk About Kevin and Silent Running.

Then Mark welcomes Syrian journalist Waad Al-Kateab, whose must-see film about living in a war zone For Sama, shot during the five-year siege of Aleppo, deeply affected him.Next, writer-director of Good Posture Dolly Wells (also known for Doll & Em, Can You Ever Forgive Me? and 45 Years), and its star Emily Mortimer (also in Mary Poppins Returns, Lars and the Real Girl) talk about their work, their life-long friendship, and their Guilty Pleasures: Dirty Dancing and Calamity Jane.Jason Isaacs takes the stage and talks about the importance of making films that highlight how people come together, and that there is more that unites us than divides us – of which his current release Hotel Mumbai is one example – before riffing hilariously on the joy of being “A Chameleon of Accents”, turning his hand to Russian, American, Scottish and Devonian in films like Harry Potter, The Death of Stalin, Armageddon and Event Horizon. The latter 1997 film’s plot is a dead ringer for current Brad Pitt vehicle Ad Astra, of whom Jason has some tales to tell.We close the show with a tribute to Ken Russell’s Tommy, which is part of the BFI’s season of musicals that starts this autumn.

I produced last night’s show from a wheelchair – fingers crossed my ankle breaks have healed, and the cast can come off this week! – and with ace assistance from the indispensable Eddie Charles and Sophie Kendrick.

Peter Bradshaw
Dolly Wells and Emily Mortimer
Emily Mortimer
Jason Isaacs
Waad Al-Kateab

Mark Kermode Live in 3D | Show 43 | July 2019

Tonight we had a packed line-up for our 43rd show.

We started with Here’s The Thing in which Mark announced his two shows at Latitude Festival, and celebrated the launch of Film Stories Junior. We also paid tribute to two great actors who passed away: Rip Torn and Freddie Jones and showed some of their greatest work from Maidstone (1970) and The Elephant Man (1980).

This month we had a full British line-up! Our first guest was Nick Broomfield , director of the documentary Marianne and Leonard: Words of Love (2019). The documentary tells the love story of Leonard Cohen and his muse, Marianne Ihlen, from their first meeting in an artists’ community on the Greek island of Hydra until their deaths in 2016. Once part of the same artists’ community this was one of Nick’s most personal projects, Mark was moved by the film and he looks forward to Nick’s next project: a documentary on his late father’s work as a photographer. Nick is the creator behind well-know documentaries, such as the documentary on Eugene Terre’Blanche, to which we paid tribute – The Leader, The Driver and The Driver’s Wife (1991).

Our next Coming Attractions saw Shola Amoo, director of The Last Tree (2019). We were honoured that the MK3D crowd were the first to see the trailer for the film! The semi-autobiographical story tells the story of how a young boy attempts to re-discover his identity after his biological mother takes him away from his foster family in Lincolnshire to South London. Mark specifically pointed out a few of his favourite shots filmed in Lincolnshire during golden hour. Mark was convinced a filter had to be used to create the effect. Shola countered that no filter was used and it was down to sheer, pure luck that they got those shots, as they filmed on the warmest day of the year.

Our third British director was the Cornish Mark Jenkin who came to talk about his upcoming feature, Bait (2019). It tells the story of a Cornish fishing village and the tension that arises from incoming tourists. Captured on black and white 16mm film and developed by hand, it offers a grainy black and white polemic. Right from the bat Mark and Mark started discussing footwear, or rather Jenkin’s lack thereof. Mark Jenkin also let us in on the secret of how he develops his film; coffee. As his studio is in Cornwall and overlooks one of the largest English fishing fleets, he felt it would be wrong to use all the chemicals involved with developing the film as it would harm nature and the fishing industry.

To pay tribute to the lengths that Mark Jenkin went through for his creative vision, Mark Kermode gave us his Top 11 of Films That Went Through Extreme Creative Processes in List-O-Mania. 11) Lek and the Dogs (2017) – invented a new language. 10) Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story (1988) – made entirely with barbies – and without music licenses. 9) The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926) – made entirely of paper silhouette cutouts. Took 3 years to make. 8) The Street (1976) – all painted on glass. 7) Loving Vincent (2017) – a first! Made entirely of oil paintings. 6) Kubo and the Two String (2016) – on the list to represent all stop motion films. 5) A Scanner Darkly (2006) – all live-action. 4) Victoria (2015) – all in one take. 3) Way Down East (1947) – the lead actress, Lilian Gish, got frostbite on her hand and face do to a scene on a frozen lake. 2) Lady in the Lake (1947) – from the point of view of the lead character, who never see unless his in front of a mirror 1) Fitzcarraldo (1982) – ‘let’s make a movie about people carrying a boat across a mountain…by actually carrying a boat across a mountain’.

Our final Coming Attractions was all about upcoming feature; Blinded by the Light (2019). We were joined by director Gurinder Chadha and Sarfraz Manzoor, whose memoir Greetings from Bury Park (2007) inspired the film. The films tells the story of a second generation Pakistani boy who finds a place for his own opinions and feelings through Bruce Springsteen’s music during Margaret Thatcher’s reigning days in Britain. Sarfraz’ and Gurinder’s friendship goes way back, to a time when they felt they were the only British-Asians who were Bruce Springsteen fans. When they got The Boss’ approval, the two of them jumped at the opportunity to make a story they feel needs to be told in current Brexit Britain.

In Sound and Vision we highlighted one of Gurinder’s previous films; Bend it Like Beckham (2002). We paid tribute to the penalty scene, which is accompanied by Nessun Dorma, which has been associated with football ever since the World Cup in 1990.