Filmmaker Iggy London's Latest Short Film AREA BOY Wins Big At Santa Barbara International Film Festival

“Area Boy”, the latest short film from acclaimed filmmaker Iggy London, has picked up the Best Scripted Short award at the 2024 Santa Barbara International Film Festival.

The victory comes following several successful festival appearances, including at the 2023 BFI London Film Festival and the 2023 Venice Biennale Film Festival, where it was included in the Orizzonti competition. The film was also longlisted for the 2023 BIFA award for Best Live Action Short.

Commenting on the victory, Iggy said the following:
"A massive thank you to Santa Barbara International Film Festival for awarding Best Scripted Short to "Area Boy". Like many short films, "Area Boy" was a labour of love. Stemming from a deep need to create worlds based on our shared lived experiences. From capturing stories that are seldom seen on screen. I hope that "Area Boy" serves as a catalyst for those conversations and inspires others to tell their own stories, no matter how big or small."

“Area Boy” follows Eli, an aimless teenager, who has moved to the outer edges of a provincial town with his mother. As he settles in, he tries to escape the bleakness of life while navigating questions of self-identity, as he balances his time between his delinquent friends and the church community. Torn between two worlds, Eli must find himself and embrace who he truly is. The film stars Joshua Cameron (“Our Fathers”) as Eli, Malcolm Kamulete (“Top Boy”, “Champion”) as Kevin, and Jolade Obasola (“Top Boy”, “Consecration”) as Marlene.

Speaking about the film, London had the following to say:
“I want to create worlds which allow us to remove ourselves from our own subject position. “Area Boy” doesn't resort to clichés or caricatures. It observes Eli as he sinks between conformity and escapism. The film watches patiently, gently, as Eli struggles to find his specific path in life. Our audience will see how it unfolds the way life does.”

An award-winning filmmaker, artist, and writer whose work sits at the intersection of music, culture and literature, London's short films "Velvet" and "Fatherhood” received a significant amount of critical acclaim, opening the door for projects with Harrods, Vogue and Nowness. He would later work on the 2022 Timberland campaign, "Built For The Bold" (featuring Mary J. Blige). London's work and signature style have established him as a key player in the creative space and led to an inclusion on Forbes' prestigious 30 Under 30 list in 2023. In the same year, he released his debut book, "MANDEM," a collection of essays inspired by examining how Black men are grouped and represented in society.

“Area Boy” is produced by SUNGAZER with BBC Film. Lorine Plagnol, the founder of SUNGAZER, states their mission statement is to support the work of talents from historically underrepresented backgrounds, both on and off screen, inspired by their core belief in the power of storytelling to create change.

Lorine most recently produced the ITV hybrid miniseries “Life In Love” in 2022, which was written and directed by Abel Rubinstein, the feature documentary “Dalton's Dream” directed by Kim Longinotto and Franky M Brown, which is set for release on BBC Storyville in 2024, and the BBC/BFI produced short film “Know The Grass”, which was long-listed for the Best Live Action Short BIFA, and screened at the 2021 BFI London Film Festival. Lorine is a BFI Insight Vision Awardee, was longlisted for a BIFA as a Breakthrough Producer in 2023 and SUNGAZER is a 2024 recipient of the BBC Small Indie Fund.

The film's co-producer, Georgia Rose, was executive producer at Dazed Media and NOWNESS before going freelance. She has produced several short films, including “Animal”, which was a co-production with Dazed Media & Gucci, and was directed by Barry Keoghan (“Saltburn”, “The Banshees of Inisherin”), and London's previous short, “Velvet”, which screened as part of the 2020 London Short Film Festival and the 2019 Aesthetica Short Film Festival.

She has also produced music videos for some of the world's biggest labels, artists and cultural institutions including Hot Chip, Leonard Cohen, Sony, Warner Music, Tate Modern, and The Barbican. She is part of the NFTS Script Development class of 2023.

NOWNESS is a global platform for the culturally curious, creating and curating the best in video content. Providing an inimitable lens on Architecture, Design, Fashion, Art, Dance, Photography and Cinema, NOWNESS has set the standard for what excellence in digital storytelling looks like for over a decade. Collaborating with the best directors in visual culture, NOWNESS films break new ground in terms of themes, approach and execution cutting through noise and garnering global critical acclaim.

NOWNESS creative collaborators include Björk, Jenn Nkiru, Luca Guadagnino and Campbell Addy and projects have included work with Valentino, Burberry, Nike, the BFI, Art Basel, Barbican and BBC Studios."

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