In Camera

Creatively addressing themes of hierarchical tokenism and identity politics, whilst highlighting cookie cutter typecasts that can often fragment or distort images, Naqqash Khalid does a great job of capturing the juxtaposition between an industry that can (often, it seems) refuse to see people from marginalised groups beyond the stereotypes society boxes them into versus embracing the unknown of creating your own rooms where you can playfully, artistically and more liberally present what you wish to see represented (essentially mapping out your own script and seeing the power in who you are).

I really appreciated the array of visual perspectives demonstrating the lead, Nabhaan Rizwan, grappling with a growing need to discover his sense of self and the discomfort of separating from the characters he is often directed to be / an assimilation to what is familiar or "safe", which I believe many viewers will resonate with in one way or another.

What's more, Khalid, is both thoughtful and courageous in how humour is interwoven among the many themes that some find challenging to present in camera.

A brilliant debut from a very passionate, dedicated and gracious person and creator.

The camera clearly loves Nabhaan Rizwan in this quirky tale of would-be actor "Aden" who spends most of his life travelling from audition to photo-shoot then back to an audition without ever getting a call back. It's clear that he's swimming against a tide of hundreds of like-minded aspirants and it's hard to see how he's going to break his duck. He shares a flat with the permanently over-tired doctor "Bo" (Rory Fleck Byrne) but maybe things could pick up with their debonaire new sharer "Conrad" (Amir El-Masry) shows up. Might his luck be about to improve? Or - might our friend have taken a bit of a leap into an alternate reality where his sub-conscious has started to change the repetitive dynamic of his life from one of repeated rejection to one of potential. By mid-way through, it's not at all clear to us just what is real and what might not be - and it's quite a bamboozling feeling to have! Rizwan brings some charisma to his frustrated role, certainly, and there's some genuinely funny moments to be taken from his increasing despondency, but somehow I found the whole thing just a bit too disjointed and the characterisations undercooked. He is obviously a British-Asian, but are his experiences seeking success with his chosen career likely to be any less disappointing that anyone from a different background/ethnicity? I'm assuming 99% of people who embark on this sort of path end up working on tables and only ever see the bright lights of their shaving mirror? If it's trying to illustrate a complex sense of anxiety and it's consequences, then it misses completely, I'm afraid. Why should we care about the self-inflicted misery of a great looking man who could just easily go and do something else? Though I did like the exploratory premiss that director Naqqash Khalid is trying to take, I just felt too much was left undeveloped. It's worth a watch, and I'm sure we will see more from both the leading creatives here - but this one, I'm not sure I will remember for long.