UK filmmaker Naqqash Khalid has wrapped a six-week shoot in Manchester on his debut feature In Camera, which stars Nabhaan Rizwan, Amir El-Masry and Rory Fleck Byrne.
The film is produced by Juliette Larthe for the UK arm of UK-US production firm Prettybird, and by former BFI exec Mary Burke for her new UK company Public Dreams. Larthe developed the script alongside Khalid.
Developed with BBC Film, In Camera is financed by BBC Film and the BFI, and in association with Uncommon Creative Studio.
In Camera follows Aden – played by Rizwan – a young man who spends most of his time recording self-tapes for parts he never gets. After he receives multiple rejections for a series of nightmarish commercial auditions, he takes it upon himself to find a new part to play.
Speaking to Screen in 2020 when he was named a UK-Ireland Star of Tomorrow, Khalid described the project as “a fairytale about ambition, performance and identity” that is structured “like a concept album”.
Rizwan and El-Masry were also recognised by Stars of Tomorrow as actors in 2019 and 2021 respectively. Rizwan previously played the lead in BBC and Amazon series Informer, and has had feature roles in Bifa-nominated Mogul Mowgli and Studiocanal’s The Last Letter From Your Lover.
El-Masry won a Scottish Bafta and was nominated for a Bifa for his lead role in Limbo; his upcoming roles include playing a young Mohamed Al-Fayed in Netflix’s The Crown. Shaheen Baig cast In Camera.
In Camera came through the 2019-20 intake of the iFeatures Lab, supported by Creative England, the BFI, BBC Film and ScreenSkills. Khalid was also a selected artist for the Arts Council England and BBC Arts-funded New Creatives North, and received a Jerwood Creative Fellowship with Manchester International Festival.
“We got blessed by our team and the incredible support from our financiers, with a massive shout out for BBC Film’s Eva Yates for believing in Naqqash’s vision from Day One,” said Larthe, who said Khalid will be “re-defining our cinema screens” with his “genre-smashing” debut. “The screen is LIT with the glow of the exciting actors.”
Burke described Khalid is “a radical proponent of new cinema”, adding, “the film promises to deliver an absolute slap.”
Khalid made debut short Parts in New York in 2016, following it up with 2018 short Stock, funded through Sky Arts’ Art 50 project.
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