In this Watershed Director's Q&A, British director, writer, actor and more, Aki Omoshaybi discusses his debut feature film Real.

Set in Portsmouth the film portrays an authentic and refreshing story of two people navigating a new relationship, and showing and understanding their true selves, not only to each other but also for themselves.

In this conversation Aki Omoshaybi talks about his journey as a filmmaker and an actor and how he wants to tell stories that feel right for him, balance the scales and present a broad spectrum of people's lives; without the tropes of Black British cinema that always seemed to be about race, injustice or violence.

Drawing on a new more recent energy in Black film, Aki Omoshaybi shares how he made this film with a budget of £50k in 12 days – having never made a film before – and some of the pitfalls and learnings he encountered along the way.

In conversation with Edson Burton – Writer, Historian, Programme-curator and Performer.

Introduced by Mark Cosgrove, Watershed cinema curator.

Posted on Tue 15 Sept 2020.

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