Writer/director Malachi Smyth delivers a genre-busting debut …

Two small-time crooks Mike and Troy are on a mission – the ‘score’ – that they both hope will transform their circumstances. While they wait for an all-important hand-over at a roadside café, Troy falls in love at first sight with waitress, Gloria (the always watchable Naomi Ackie), and begins to question his life choices. But driving down the road to meet them is the threat of real danger.

So far, so standard a storyline for a heist movie, but writer/director Malachi Smyth’s directorial feature debut is anything but typical. Smyth blends the traditional Hollywood thriller with a musical and stylises with influences borrowed from French New Wave cinema for an off-beat genre-busting mash-up. 

The original songs in the film were written and performed by singer/actor Johnny Flynn alongside other members of the cast. A singing Naomi Ackie gives a preview of what’s to come, as her portrayal of Whitney Houston in the bio-pic, I Wanna Dance with Somebody which is due for release at the end of the year. Flynn brings the same off-kilter menace to the role of Mike that marked him out as a rising star in the 2018 film, Beast, and makes a good foil to Will Pouter’s bad-boy-next-door turn as Troy. But it’s the sparing romance between Poulter and Ackie that delivers The Score’s more enjoyable moments.

The film opens with a “wtf is this?” introduction to the three main characters, all in full-folk-rock song mode. It takes a while for both the audience and the film to find its footing. Just when you think you’ve got a handle on the situation the characters break into a melody again, which has the unfortunate effect of breaking the flow of action. The tunes don’t help to advance the narrative as in most musicals or add another layer of understanding to the inner motivation of the characters. Instead, they seem to cast a sense of ambiguity over proceedings.  

The film’s action takes place over one day, and the passing of time should add the weight of impending doom and tension. Who are these ‘professionals’ Mike has arranged to meet? Can Troy and Gloria escape with the bag of cash and start off anew elsewhere? Unfortunately, with all its stops and starts the story loses steam and the end result is a meandering tale that fails to hold attention throughout. Part thriller, part romance, part road-movie musical, The Score’s ambitious grasp for the fresh and new may exceed its reach, but Smyth’s experimental calling card is worth a look if just for his daring to try something different.

The Score, in UK cinemas and on Demand Friday 9th September. Link to cinemas here.

The soundtrack to the film will be released via EMI, details coming soon.

From his attention-grabbing turn in Peaky Blinders, the stage and screen actor delivers a breakout performance in Sophie Hyde’s impactful comedy-drama.

McCormack stars as the titular sex worker who sets Thompson’s retired school teacher on the path of self-discovery and sexual awakening.

Essentially a two-hander, Good Luck to You… is the perfect showcase for the Irish actor’s talents, managing to shine alongside two-time Oscar winner’s Thompson bravado performance. TBB sits down with McCormack to talk about inspiration, big breaks and what’s next.

Please introduce yourself…

I am Daryl McCormack I am an actor and I’m from Ireland

Please share a word or sentence which best describes your life right now.

Exciting, slightly surreal and joyful!

With Vikings, The Wheel of Time, Peaky Blinders, and now the titular role in Leo Grande you seem to have the knack for picking the right vehicles to advance your career. How do you go about choosing a role?

Following my instincts on scripts, characters that I feel have something to say and something that will demand something of me is more or less my main go-to when choosing a role.

What was the catalyst that made a young Daryl, growing up in Nenagh, Tipperary to become an actor? Were you inspired by somebody in your personal life or was it the performance you saw on stage or film?

It was a mix of both I had a tradition with my mum to go to the cinema every weekend and we would watch movies and that was true escapism for the both of us and it kept my dream alive for a long time. Then there was a particular play I saw in Manchester at the Royal Exchange called ‘Raisin In The Sun’ where I really just felt the impact of storytelling and what it could do to kind of release people and that was a significant moment when I really felt that I wanting to pursue acting potentially for life. I was 17.

Were you at all nervous about acting with the multi-Emmy, BAFTA, Golden Globe, and Oscar award-winning actress Emma Thompson in what is essentially a two-hander film?

I was nervous, there were moments of self-doubt as comes with a lot of work that asks or demands more of you, but particularly it being a two-hander film, and the nature of which we were very exposed, I felt nervous but I also felt so anchored into who I was portraying and the story we were telling that I was able to put that before any nerves and was able to throw myself into playing Leo.

Coming out of the screening of Leo Grande, I heard comparisons to this being the break-out role for you in the way that Pretty Woman did for Julia Roberts and Bridgerton for Regé-Jean Page. After Leo’s premiere at Sundance and subsequent screenings, have you seen a difference in the parts and projects that are now being offered to you?

Yes. I definitely feel that there is more room for me to choose the work that I want to do which is really exciting, there are people that I have admired for a very long time who are interested in working with me which is surreal and it definitely feels like I can have a sense of cultivating my choices more and picking the writing and projects I want to put myself into.

What’s next for you? Do you want to continue focusing on film or perhaps go back to the stage (McCormack made his West End debut in The Lieutenant of Inishmore)?

What’s next for me is The Tudor which is a film that I start shooting in Humburg next week. I wish to continue in film because it’s really where my dreams began. I do also see myself returning to the stage at some point because that’s also a huge passion but for now, I really look forward to working on more films.

GETTING TO KNOW YOU…

• A favourite book you have to have in your collection? East of Eden by John Steinbeck – I guess it’s because I’m not a massive reader and that book is quite a big book and its an amazing story and I was very proud that I even finished it…A song / album that defines the soundtrack of your life to date?

•  A song/album that defines the soundtrack of your life to date? So Long See You Tomorrow by Bombay Bicycle Club

• The first stage production you saw and what it meant to you? Hamlet when I was at school by the Druid Theatre Company it was a lot of fun and it inspired me.

• What’s made you sad, mad, and glad this week? Sad, I am going away from London for a month and a bit, I often miss my friends and my life when I’m away working because I’m always working, I’m also glad that I’m going away as I’m always grateful that I am working. Mad- nothing I’ve been really happy.

Good Luck to You Leo Grande is released in cinemas on Friday 17th June.

Cruise takes flight with a cinema rarity, a sequel that’s better than the original.

It’s been more than 35 years since a then, up and coming young actor by the name of Tom Cruise donned a pair of aviator sunglasses, flight jacket and hopped on the back of a Kawasaki before uttering the iconic lines, “I feel the need, the need for speed.” Made on a budget of just $15 million (which would not cover Cruise’s going rate nowadays), Top Gun soared to become the highest-grossing film of 1986. But in the age of the box set rather than Blockbuster, will audiences feel the need to leave the sofa to see the perma-grin Cruise reprise the role of fighter flyer Pete Mitchell? 

That question is resoundingly answered by a reminiscent opening sequence of swooping fighter jets while the original 80s rock-lite track Danger Zone guns over the sound of the engines. Seats are put in the upright position, with viewers strapped in and ready for takeoff. The story begins on familiar terrain. Mitchell is now serving as a test pilot; and against direct orders, pushes a jet beyond Mach 10 speed, serving up an in-flight snack of a scene achieved with slick edits, real-life effects and emotive close-ups rather than relying on unrealistic CGI. About to be grounded by the Navy for good, Maverick is thrown a lifeline by his old rival turned mentor, Admiral Tom ‘Iceman’ Kazansky – in a touching cameo by Val Kilmer – to train and prepare a detachment of Top Gun graduates for a daring mission. But one of the recruits is Bradley ‘Rooster‘ Bradshaw (Miles Teller), the son of Maverick’s friend and former wingman who died during a risky training manoeuvre. Echoing the original movie’s key theme, Mitchell must confront his own guilt and find his true purpose if he is to succeed.  

Director Joseph Kosinski ably steps into the late Tony Scott’s shoes and delivers all the touchpoints expected of a blockbuster from the legendary production outfit Simpson and Bruckheimer. Plaudits are deserved for managing to keep proceedings from veering off course into the territory of pastiche with the addition of some emotional baggage; Mitchell’s realisation of his own advancing years and the incorporation of Kilmer’s real-life cancer struggle, in one of the standout scenes. There is, however, a somewhat checklist feel to the casting of the young pilots; one woman, one Latino, one African-American, etc. – including an underused Jay Ellis of Insecure fame – whose characters are almost interchangeable. Much too, has been said about the non-inclusion of Kelly McGillis, who starred as Maverick’s love interest in the first outing, showing that Hollywood’s attitude to older actresses has barely changed between the intervening years of the two movies. But despite these concerns, the film’s greatest achievement is in reminding us of the absolute joy of going to the cinema. There is no way a mobile phone or even a 72inch television, regardless of its resolution, can replace the shared experience of seeing a movie on the big screen. You simply cannot recreate spontaneous mass rounds of applause and a lot of whooping in your living room.

At the movie’s start, Ed Harris’ gnarly Rear Admiral spits out the line, “The end is inevitable, Maverick. Your kind is headed for extinction.” The same could have been said of Cruise’s career, hailing from a bygone pre-Marvel era of cinema when a star’s name above the title could guarantee box office success. Maverick replies, “Maybe so, sir. But not today.” With Top Gun 2, Cruise proves he may have a few good days left in him yet. 

Top Gun 2: Maverick in cinemas on 27th May 2022 

Executive produced by Morgan Freeman and starring Frankie Faison.

Starring the always on point Frankie Faison (The Wire), The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain is a stark depiction of the 2011 true-life shooting of the African American retired marine. After being mistakenly called to Chamberlain’s New York address in response to a medical alert Chamberlain who suffered from a heart condition and bipolar disorder, was first tasered and then fatally shot by officers because he refused to open the door.

Set in the hours leading up to Chamberlain’s death, the film opens with a timestamp of 5:22 am and the visual of Kenneth lying motionless on his bed before inadvertently pressing his medical alert button, beginning the traumatic chain of events. By 7:00 am Chamberlain would be dead. Writer-director David Midell creates a claustrophobic atmosphere from the start, setting the film within just the cramped confines of the apartment and the hallways outside, and ratches up the tension with the use of handheld camerawork.

Every breath, every emotion, every bead of sweat of Faison’s kick-in-the-gut performance is writ large on the screen to harrowing effect. So much so that The Killing… makes one think about the purpose of film as a medium. Is it to entertain, to move the audience or to educate, to document, to make a change, or all of the above? At just under two hours the film is a taut and blistering watch.

With the passing of each scene, as the police first start with bluster and quickly escalate to using racial epithets and unlawful force to gain entry into Chamberlain’s apartment, making it to the closing credits of the movie requires endurance. We all know how this is going to end. We all know this will tragically happen again. However, as a black audience is it our duty to watch no matter how uncomfortable or triggering it may be? The final visual ends with a close-up of Chamberlain lying pinned down on the floor by numerous officers and being fatally shot.

As an epilogue, Midell employs excerpts of the actual audio recording of Chamberlain’s plaintive requests for the police to leave him alone, followed by the stark caption stating that none of the officers involved in his killing faced criminal charges. We are left bereft, but unfortunately, not surprised.

Without a doubt, The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain is a powerful piece of independent film-making, skilfully blending a docu-realism style with the time-sensitive thriller genre. Deservedly picking up numerous awards, it was made with the support of the victim’s family. In the words of Chamberlain’s son, Kenneth Chamberlain Jr., “this film is a stark view of American civil life, and the urgent need for a better understanding of race, mental health, the rights of citizens, better training for officers, and more accountability within our justice system.” Of course, this is a story which needs to be told and is a strong argument for the growing calls for health professionals to be part of response teams. Just prepare yourself before you press play.

The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain (Cert 15, 81mins) presented by Signature Entertainment will be available on Digital Platforms Monday 9th May.

We have finally been graced with the second series of Bridgerton!

Shonda Rhimes’s blockbuster hit about the lives and scandalous loves of London’s high-society is back for a much-anticipated second series.

While Regé-Jean Page is not returning, the many talents of Martins Imhangbe continue to shine in the role of boxer Will Mondrich.

TTB cordially accepts an invitation to sit down with the British-Nigerian actor to discuss shifting perspectives, the lure of the stage and possible future projects…

Please introduce yourself?

My name is Martins Imhangbe. I am of Nigerian heritage, and I am an Artist.

Please share a word or sentence which best describes your life right now. 

Blessed and highly favoured.

You made your TV debut in Bridgeton, one of Netflix’s biggest-ever hits. You seem to make the most of your opportunities! Tell us how you secured the part of Bridgerton’s Will Mondrich?

I was playing the role of Happy Loman in Death of a Salesman at the Young Vic Theatre, and towards the end of the run, an audition came along for a period drama by Shondaland, which sounded very interesting. I believe the casting directors came to see the show and felt that I suited the role of Will Mondrich. So, I self-taped and a few weeks later got offered!

How does Mondrich’s character arc develop in Season 2, especially as his sparring partner and best friend the Duke Simon Basset (played by Regé-Jean Page) is no longer the main focus?

We see a completely new side to Will. A more entrepreneurial approach, which is interesting to engage with. Bill Richmond, who my character is loosely based on was considered by many as the first black boxing entrepreneur, so it’s exciting to be heading down that route.

Did you delve into researching Richmond? He seems to have had a fascinating life that could be a basis for a TV series in itself – born into slavery in America in 1763 but lived most of his life in Britain. 

He had a very fascinating life, and I was blown away by learning about who he was and what he managed to achieve, especially in those times. I kept thinking, why am I only learning about him now. He found favour in society due to his charm and talent as a very charismatic boxer and businessman. It’s also great to be a part of a narrative and portray a character that is positive and not stereotypical as you may often find in period dramas.

This is not your first time playing a boxer. You starred alongside Nicholas Pinnock at the Bush Theatre in The Royale, a play about the first African-American world heavyweight champion, Jack Johnson. Did your preparation for these roles differ, as the boxing fight scenes in The Royale were more stylised whilst Bridgerton’s are more naturalistic? 

Yes, this was very fascinating actually – studying the evolution of boxing. Bill Richmond came before Jack Johnson. Bare knuckled boxing came first, then gloves, with more definitive rules. The posture was also different and less front footed as it is today, it was more defensive, but now boxers take more risks and can afford to get hit more due to the gloves being more padded. Our staged version of The Royale was very balletic and stylised. The boxing on Bridgerton was more brutal, realistic and intense. I’m surprised that some still had a full set of teeth after all of those hits.

After studying at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, you began your acting career on the stage and then moved into TV. Are feature films the next progression in your career, or is the theatre calling you back?

It will have to depend on the opportunity. I’d love to experience working on a feature film and get that under my belt for sure. The stage is definitely calling me back and I can’t wait to be back in a rehearsal process and perform for a live audience, there’s nothing like it. I love how you can do the same show and it’s different every night. The audience is just as involved in the storytelling.

Do you feel Bridgerton’s diverse casting and its success will change, or at least stretch the industry’s approach and audiences’ acceptance of black actors in roles outside of the usual stereotypes and tropes?

Yes, as storytellers we should be holding up the mirror and reflecting society as it is, which isn’t just one perspective. I personally prefer the term inclusive. Often history excludes black and Asian actors from period dramas as if we didn’t exist in those days as anything other than the servants, lower class or criminals. But if we delve deeper and do more research, we find that black and Asian people were just as integral to society with many positive influences. We shouldn’t have to be hustling for a seat at the table or to be accepted. As humans, we just have to take responsibility, shift perspectives and do our due diligence in honouring the truth. I was grateful for the open dialogue that was often encouraged during the filming of Bridgerton; it should feel collaborative and if you’re unsure about historical accuracy just ask, or hire black and Asian historians.

As an actor what’s more exposing, walking onto the stage opening night at the National Theatre or onto a big-budget Netflix set for your first scene?

For me, definitely opening night at the National Theatre, there is nowhere to hide, and if you make a mistake, you have to roll with it; there are no second takes. With screen, there is a level of comfort with knowing you can have a few goes at getting the right take.

You appeared in a promotional trailer for Caleb Azumah Nelson’s award-winning novel Open Water along with Adwoa Akoto. It felt beautifully reminiscent of the classic romantic 90s movie Love Jones. Please tell us there is talk of making this an actual adaptation starring the two of you?

Your words to God’s ears. That would be incredible – huge fan of Caleb’s work and Adwoa’s. It’s out in the universe now so let’s see what happens.

GETTING TO KNOW YOU…

A favourite book you have to have in your collection?

Sidney Poitier, The Measure of a Man.

A song/album that defines the soundtrack of your life to date?

Adekunle Gold, Win.

A film / TV show that you can watch/have watched repeatedly?

Paid in Full.

The first stage production you saw and what it meant to you?

Lion King – it was a spectacle to witness. I was just in awe of the whole magic of it. I also felt like I was a part of it as an audience member, which was exciting as a young boy.

What’s made you sad, mad, and glad this week?

Sad about the potential of World War III and what is happening in Ukraine. Mad that I had to pay extra at the airport because I forgot to check-in prior. Glad about new beginnings. I just bought a place and living in a whole new area.

Bridgerton Season 2, Drops on Netflix on Friday 25th March 2022.

Keep up to date with Martins via his social media handles: Instagram

My Name Is Pauli Murray provides a fascinating introduction to the visionary activist and author, poet and priest, of whom most have probably never heard.  

Fresh from the success of their Oscar-nominated film RGB (2018), which charted the life of Supreme Court Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg, directors Julie Cohen and Betsy West turn their lens on another legal firebrand.

Born Anna Paulina Murray in 1910, Murray was at the forefront of civil and gender rights campaigns that would eventually lead to seismic legal and constitutional change. Their latest offering draws a detailed outline of a hitherto unmapped figure.  

My Name Is… takes us on a whistle-stop tour of Murray’s many firsts; in 1944 she graduated first in her law degree class at Howard University, became California’s first black deputy attorney general, the first African American to receive a Doctor of Juridical Science degree from Yale law school in 1965, and in 1977 became the first African-American woman ordained as an Episcopal priest. Fifteen years before Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat, Murray was arrested in Virginia along with her friend for refusing to move to the back of the bus.  In the 1954 case of Brown v. Board of Education, Murray’s law school paper written 10 years previously, helped form Thurgood Marshall’s cornerstone argument to successfully establish racial segregation in public schools as unconstitutional. But her contribution to the landmark decision went largely uncredited.

The film goes on to highlight how Murray’s work was later used by Bader Ginsburg in the Supreme Court battle to assert the 14th Amendment of the Constitution which offered protection on the basis of sex as well as race. Murray’s legal arguments were ahead of their time, but as we hear in her own voice, she reconciled her place in history; “I live to see my lost causes found”. 

Cohen and West judiciously mix archive footage, insights from Murray’s colleagues, friends, and family to fully render her personal and professional life, together with extensive use of Murray’s writings and audio recordings to reveal her inner struggles.  Making an appearance is Professor Rosalind Rosenberg, author of the biography, Jane Crow: The Life of Pauli Murray. Through Rosenberg, the documentary introduces the difficulties Murray experienced due to her sexuality and gender identity. This examination provides My Name Is… with a deeper and darker counterpoint to the exploration of her extraordinary career achievements. 

Although born with the outer appearance of a female, Murray from an early age was convinced she was born a man. Adopting a masculine style of dress, Pauli often passed as a teenage boy, and she dropped the name Anna for the less defining moniker Pauli. We hear how in the early 1940s, Murray desperately sought to obtain hormone treatments and described her gender as an ‘in-betweenness. The film suggests that Murray could be viewed as an early transgender figure in US history, who in today’s parlance may have preferred to use the pronouns they, their, them. It seems that as in all aspects of Murray’s life, society had yet to catch up with her way of thinking.  

Considering the immeasurable impact Murray had on racial, gender, and identity politics it’s incredible that her story is not widely known both in and outside of the US. One hopes that the release of the illuminating My Name Is… will finally bring Murray’s life and story the attention it deserves.  

My Name Is Pauli Murray is available in Cinemas and at home on Amazon Prime Video

Fresh from her tour-de-force performance as Billie Holiday we speak to the multi-talented Nina Kristofferson and discover her passion behind bringing the troubled singer’s life to the stage.

The story of the legendary singer has been told many times, but Kristofferson’s intimate performances as the iconic chanteuse Billie Holiday delivers audiences with a fresh connection to the tale. Featuring some of Holiday’s greatest hits including God Bless The Child, Lover Man, Strange Fruit, Don’t Explain and All of Me, the show offers both a celebration of Holiday’s life and an insight into the human condition.

With a vocal style that ranges from jazz and pop to musical theatre and opera, Kristofferson dazzling ability has led her to appear in film, television and radio, as well as a stint as a voice coach on the X-Factor.

TBB sits down with the multi-award-winning actor, singer, writer, educator and model Nina Kristofferson to talk about singing the blues and the joys of performing.

Please introduce yourself?

I’m Nina Kristofferson and I’m a creator, actor and singer who puts on her own shows from time to time – when I’m not collaborating or working on somebody else’s project. Oh yes and sometimes you can find me writing, educating others and voicing video games along with a splash of modelling.

Please share a word or sentence which best describes your life right now.

Full of creativity and life.

When or how did you first become enamoured with the icon Billie Holiday?

I loved Billie Holiday from when I was a kid listening to her music… Immediately I was hooked and I performed Strange Fruit at Drama School which made some of the students cry. From then I realised the beauty of Billie Holiday and my voice and the ability to move an audience.

The show featured a cocktail of Holiday’s classic songs, which one do you enjoy singing most or resonates with you most?

I love them all and they all resonate to give an insight into the human condition. Our characteristics, interpretation and delivery ignite something different in each song. The lyrics of these songs get right into your soul and speaks to us individually. Strange Fruit kills me every time, it’s a powerful song that still resonates today.

The story of Billie Holiday’s life has been covered many times on stage and in film. Do feel the intimacy of your show allows you to bring a new or fresh connection to the tale for audiences?

The show is crafted stylishly to incorporate the dialogue and songs and I think this enables the songs to become the dialogue and the dialogue to become the songs cushioned on a historical backdrop. The Concert gives you a snapshot of the full Story – which takes you on a rollercoaster ride. Audiences have been enjoying the show since it first sold out at the Edinburgh Festival in 2011 followed by a sold-out West End Season in 2013, a No.1 Tour culminating in many awards.

The show has been running in Concert form since 2013 at various venues in the West End as well as performing at Festivals and was only stopped by COVID19 but I guess it’s like any good show or musical the audience dictates. It sold out again at Zédel’s Crazy Coqs.

No two performances are ever the same so it keeps it fresh in intimacy and craft. I Hope to be back in the West End and touring with the full Story if I can get another investor involved.

You give your all during the performance and it’s an incredible feat. How do you prepare for the show particularly given the emotional range required to portray Billie’s tumultuous life?

I’m an Olympian at my Craft, like most good performers from the physical and mental focus to the joy and excitement of delivering a full range of emotions. Aiming for repetition, vocal exercises, learning the dialogue and songs so you can be free to let go and be in the moment. So you invite the audience into your World. This creates its own energy and you, ‘stay in the pocket’ and the audience moves with you.

As an actor, singer, writer, educator, model, voice-over artist, you wear many hats. Is there one role you gravitate to more, or are there further avenues you wish to explore?

I enjoy working and as an educator it allows you to share your knowledge and give back. There are always lots more to be explored. I play the piano a bit so I’m visiting that at the moment as well as exploring more Theatre work and I’m now looking at TV and Film scripts. A drama or comedy would be nice. I would love to see myself on screen before the end of the year.

In the past, you’ve worked as singing coaching for X Factor Contestants. ITV has put the show on hiatus for the foreseeable future. Do you think talent shows are still a relevant route for new talent to be seen and discovered?

I think talent shows will reinvent themselves. It’s a quick road to becoming a star and certainly, if you really are talented – I say why not! Social Media is creating a route for talent to be seen and discovered and it is wild at the moment. The traditional route where you are trained is probably the more lasting out of all of them but a breakthrough star can come from anywhere.

What’s next for you? Are you planning on taking the show to further venues or do you have another project in the works?

I’m performed two shows recently. The other show, Timeless is a beautiful selection of songs from Beyoncé, Adele, James Brown, Dusty Springfield, Barbra Streisand, Puccini, Nina Simone and many more sung in 5 different languages and I finished my first run at the Pheasantry on the 13 & 14 August. However, more dates will be announced for both shows, which I’ll share on socials. My Billie Holiday Album is back on sale and I’m hoping to be back with the full Billie Holiday Story in Town or a possible UK Tour and I’m writing another theatre Project. I have a TV pilot that I would love to get commissioned. So I’m open to discussions and I have my eye on the big screen. Just have not found the right project yet.

GETTING TO KNOW YOU…

.  A favourite book you have to have in your collection?  To Be Young, Gifted And Black: Lorraine Hansberry & the title song by Nina Simone.

.  A song/album that defines the soundtrack of your life to date? Rhythm of Life from Sweet Charity & Ave Maria, Bach’s 1 st Prelude adapted by Gounod

.  A film / TV show that you can watch/have watched repeatedly? Films like To Sir With Love and It’s A Wonderful Life.

.  The first stage production you saw and what it meant to you? Mother Courage by Bertolt Brecht made me believe you could do anything in theatre with just a bunch of great actors and a few props.

.  What’s made you sad, mad, and glad this week?  Hahaha, I leave the emotional rollercoaster rides for my shows… I’m pretty happy go lucky most of the time although HE is looking rather interesting.

More dates for Timeless and Nina Kristofferson’s Billie Holiday Story are to be announced soon

Instagram: @ninakristofferson

Writer-director Philippe Lacôte’s second feature film Night of the Kings is set amidst a remote and dense Ivory Coast forest.

When a new inmate arrives at La MACA prison shackled in the back of an open-top police van and to a welcome reminiscent of feeding time at a zoo, from the go, all the familiar prison-drama tropes are present. The baying crowds of hardened prisoners jeering the arrival of fresh meat, the jaded prison warden, and the ever-present terror of violence. But minutes into its opening, Night of the Kings takes off into a different territory.

La Maca is a different world, one with its own codes and laws.  This is the only prison in the world ruled by the inmates, and its first law is that the Dangôro or top dog must take his own life if he falls ill or can no longer control the prison population. The present Dangôro, Blackbeard (Steve Tientcheu) is ailing. He patrols the prison’s communal living spaces with an oxygen tank trailing behind him while snapping at his heels the warring usurpers Lass (Konaté) and Half-Mad (Digbeu), vie to take over his position.

Blackbeard sees the new arrival as an opportunity to sure-up his position if only for a few days until he can plan his escape. So he invokes one of the prison’s traditional laws. With the appearance of a red moon, the Dangôro can appoint a storyteller, a ‘Roman’ who must enthrall and entertain the prison population. Blackbeard anoints the new arrival, played with sincere wide-eye naivety by Bakary Koné, as the new ‘Roman’. Like a modern-day Scheherazade of One Thousand and One Nights, he must spin a story that lasts until dawn. Now their fates are intertwined, and both their lives hang in the balance of the tale to be told.

Night of the King’s prison settings and the use of a Greek chorus – where a group of performers will comment on the main action of a play – lends the film an almost theatrical-like experience. And its themes of power and hidden machinations have a decidedly Shakespearean parallel.  But as Roman begins to weave his story of the “Zama King“, a legendary gang leader, the film takes a dramatically different turn as the inmates are swept up by the power of his words and transported far outside the walls of the facility.  Through a series of flashbacks, the film travels from a pre-colonial Ivory Coast of kings, queens, and soothsayers and all the way to the not-so-distant real-life overthrow of former president Laurent Gbagbo. The chaos of the prison reflecting the country’s long history of turmoil in a never-ending power struggle.

Ambitious in its reach, Lacôte’s sprawling film mixes mysticism with gritty realism to unusual effect, that although not entirely successful, certainly proves original. Shortlisted for the 2021 Oscar’s International Feature category, Night of the Kings is a confident follow-up to the director’s 2014 debut feature Run.

The first film from the Ivory Coast to be screened at the Cannes Film Festival. With his latest offering Lacôte highlights the cultural importance of oral storytelling and the power of a tale well told to free the audience from their current situation and take them someplace else. With Night of the Kings, the imaginative Lacôte succeeds in doing just that.

Night of The Kings comes to UK cinemas 23^rd July and is available to view –  Night of the Kings

Looking for Bono is the hilarious novel from author Abidemi Sanusi.

Looking For Bono was elected by independent publisher Jacaranda Books as part of their Twenty in 2020 initiative. It’s the first time a UK publisher will publish 20 Black British writers in one year.

Based on Sanusi’s experiences as a human rights worker, Looking for Bono tells the tale of a hapless Lagosian’s quest to meet the rock star in the hopes that he can pressure the Nigerian president to bring free water to his community.

Sanusi’s previous novel Eyo was shortlisted for the 2010 Commonwealth Writers’ Prize. TBB sits down with the Nigerian-born author, to talk about the craft of writing and helping others to find their voice.

Please introduce yourself …

I’m Abidemi Sanusi. I’m of Nigerian heritage, an author, and service provider to writers.

Give us a word or sentence that best describes your life right now? 

Work.

Where did the inspiration for Looking for Bono come from? 

It came from my observations as a former human writer.  Back then, I was working for a small UK-based African charity and funding was nigh on impossible for us. By the same token, I saw the big charities that had big-name celebrities positively reel in funds to support their projects, which, by the way, we could’ve done more cost-effectively and with bigger impact as we worked very closely with local communities. It was this observation and other frustration that inspired Looking for Bono.

Much of the charm of Looking for Bono comes from your exquisitely drawn characters. I loved the summation of Munira – “And now, she was 35, with a Nollywood age of 25.” When writing do you start with the characters and let them drive the narrative or begin with the premise first and then devise characters to fit?

It’s a bit of both. Looking for Bono started with a simple premise: an illiterate man who has never left his slum in Lagos, Nigeria, decides that he’s going to meet Bono the musician, to tell him to tell the Nigerian president to provide water in his slum. It’s a simple, ridiculous premise, and it has to be to make the novel work. Munira is his wife, a woman with dreams of being a Nollywood actress, who through no fault of her own found her choices taken away from her. These two and other motley characters drove the premise of the book.

Did you have a process or pattern that you follow to sit down and write, e.g. do you have a set place or time? 

I’m very much a morning person, so that’s when I write. And it’s always at my desk which overlooks the street.

What did being selected for the Jacaranda Twenty in Twenty initiative mean to you and explain the importance of this program? 

The program is important because it celebrates the best of Black British writing. For me as an author, the most important thing was the fact that it gave the authors a voice and a platform to tell stories that would never have seen the light of day, just because of the way the publishing industry is set up. It was also knowing that I wouldn’t have to fight for, or explain certain things in Looking for Bono, because the Jacaranda team is made up of people of colour who are committed to Black literary excellence, and not the glorification and commercialisation of Black trauma in the name of ‘literature‘.  That mattered a lot to me.

You also manage a website for writers, tell us about its purpose and what your goals are for it? 

The website is called Ready Writer www.readywriter.co.uk. Its purpose is to help writers write better and make more from their writing. So, if you go on the website, there are writing courses, templates, and basically everything you need to help writers thrive. I’ve also just launched writethemes.com, which is a website theme shop for writers. The first theme Authorpreneur (authorpreneur.writethemes.com) was launched a few months ago. It’s been a ride and I’m still learning. 

Are there any new writers or books that you would recommend our followers to look out for? 

Currently reading Angie Cruz’s Dominicana. Finished Kim JiYoung, Born 1982 by Cho Ham-Joo, which I’m still mulling over. Megha Majumdar’s  A Burning is one that I’ll defo think about for a long time, probably because a lot of the themes and characters seem so familiar to me. 

Which authors if any, do you feel have most influenced your work/style? 

Probably none, as I devour all kinds of books, so I take from each what I can.

How did lockdown affect your writing?

I spent the time focusing on writethemes.com and Ready Writer. There is the craft of writing, which I love (that’s why I write books). And there is the business of writing, which I must say, I’m fascinated and love doing, hence writethemes.com and Ready Writer websites.

Did you take any writing/literature courses before beginning your first novel to help find your ‘voice’ or to structure your idea or did you simply begin by putting pen to paper? 

No writing courses. I simply put finger to keyboard and started writing away. The one thing that helped – and I’ve spoken to many writers who say the exact same thing – was the fact that I had a blog. It really helped to improve my technique.

Do you have an idea for or are working on your next novel?

I started working on the follow-up to Looking for Bono but got sidetracked by writethemes.com. But I do hope to pick this back up later in the year.

Looking For Bono by Abidemi Sanusi is available at Jacaranda Books

19 years after his 2002 documentary Biggie and Tupac, Nick Broomfield’s Last Man Standing proves to be the final full stop in the story of Smalls and Shakur’s unsolved murders.

While the earlier film asked questions that many didn’t know or were too scared to answer, this latest investigation seeks to tie up all loose ends. When Death Row Record’s head honcho Suge Knight was sentenced to 28 years in jail after pleading guilty to voluntary manslaughter charges, the dogged Broomfield decided to revisit the subject. With the intimidating Knight behind bars and the company he built on its knees, it seemed people became less reluctant to talk.

The result is a traditional no-frills and just-the-facts documentary. Brimming with evidentiary direct-to-camera interviews, behind-the-scenes footage, and archive photographs the film systematically connects the dots between the label head and the slayings of the two hip hop icons. As a middle-aged, middle-class white documentarian, Broomfield was a surprising author of a film exploring the east-coast west-coast rap divide. But as his back catalogue of films attest – with subjects ranging from Boer separatist Eugene Terre Blanche and Hollywood Madam Heidi Fleiss, to more recently Whitney Houston – he goes where the story is.  

In Last Man Standing Broomfield cannily enlists the guidance of LA local fixer Pam Brooks who knows all the players and the game to gain access to those who otherwise might not have talked on camera. At one point in the film, a potential interviewee calls Pam and questions whether Nick is ex-LAPD. She vouches for Nick with the settling retort, “they from England..they white, but they’re black”, and she rightly gains a producer credit for her work.

As is Broomfield’s style, his presence is rarely seen on camera but is keenly felt in the meticulous sourcing and selection of interviewees who tell the story better than any voice-over ever could. Each contributor is given the space and time to tell their version of events.  From the ex-convicts hired by Suge as security to the family of Tupac confounded by the change in the man they once knew, the pervading feeling from these personal testimonies is the pain and heartache of damaged people doing damage while caught up in a maelstrom of fame, money, and drugs.

The majority of the film is given to the rise and fall of both Suge Knight and Tupac Shakur. One college-educated and from a stable home and the other laden with gifts and talents. Much was expected of both, but instead, Last Man Standing details how their embracement of LA gang culture came to ultimately dominate and derail their lives. Time is also given to substantiate claims made by former detective Russell Poole that corrupt LAPD officers took part in the killing of Smalls in retaliation to the murder of Shakur. Poole died discredited, but Broomfield produces the evidence to back up his claims, and further that the LAPD withheld this information from Smalls’ estate who had filed a lawsuit against them.

As the de facto last man standing in the saga of Biggie and Tupac, Suge Knight will be eligible for parole in 2037, when he’ll be 73. To date, no one has been charged for the murder of either MC who are both generally accepted as the greatest rap talents of all time. Broomfield’s film sadly captures the senseless waste of it all. As one interviewee says of Tupac, “the world lost someone who could’ve made quite a difference.”

Nick Broomfield’s Last Man Standing: Suge Knight and the Murders of Biggie and Tupac will receive its World Premiere on June 30th with a special one-night-only nationwide pre-recorded Q&A with Director Nick Broomfield hosted by Trevor Nelson, before receiving its general release on July 2nd. Find out more here