As many of you film lovers may have seen, the LA Film
Festival on Tuesday released their 2016 lineup, and numerous S&A featured
filmmakers have been selected. Check out Tambay’s post on the Fest here.
Among them is British director Shola Amoo’s “A Moving
Image,” a multimedia feature film about gentrification in Brixton,
incorporating fiction, documentary and performance art, which is in the World
Fiction Competition. The film
stars Tanya Fear, who was also featured in Amoo’s festival favorite film
“Touch,” as Nina, a young stifled artist who returns to her community after a
long absence – and is soon painted as a symbol of gentrification. As she struggles with her own
complicity, we follow her mission to create a piece of art that can bring her
community together. On her journey, the filmmakers speak to real people
affected by gentrification in Brixton, blurring the line between reality and
fiction.
Featured here in the past year while working on “A Moving
Image,” I got a chance to talk to Shola Amoo yesterday about his
accomplishment:
“I’m very excited to be having the world premiere of “A
Moving Image” at the LA Film Festival. In a way, it’s the perfect place to have
this conversation about gentrification, as there’s a lot of similarities
between what’s happening in places in London like Brixton and Peckham and
places in Los Angeles like Boyle Heights and Echo Park. I’m looking forward to the retreat and the chance to connect
with the other filmmakers. There’s a lot of prep needed by my team but I’m sure
we won’t forget to have some fun, plus London is a bit grey right now – some
sun will be nice.”
The retreat Amoo is referring to is the Film Independent
Filmmaker Retreat – an annual event which brings each year’s feature category
directors together with high-profile mentors and selected Film Independent
Board Members for a community-building event prior to the official start of the
2016 Festival. Also in attendance
at the retreat is Film Independent Spirit Award winner and LA Film Festival
alum Ryan Coogler (Creed), who will be honored as the 2016 Festival’s
Guest Director.
The opening night film for the festival is Peruvian director
Ricardo de Montreuil’s “Lowriders” which focuses on East LA car culture and
Mexican culture, very prominent in Southern California, and starring Demian
Bichir and Eva Longoria.
See more about “A Moving Image” on their website and
check out the lineup of the LA Film Festival here.