GenZ South Asian immigrant experiences are varied and often there is a real fear of speaking out. This film started as a documentary but had to be pulled when one of the key contributors refused to consent to release the film.
Her reasons were totally valid, she had genuine fears about the reprisals she would face from her family. To her, the interview was a chance to speak candidly to someone who cares, and that is as far as she wanted to take it.
And so, whilst heartbroken that there wasn’t the chance to tell this poignant story in her words, her character and experiences were the seed for what has become Tell Me About It.
‘Tell me about it’ is a phrase with a dual meaning in Britain. It’s either used by people who want to know more, or more often its used to express empathy. The intonation transforms its meaning and the context of how it is meant to be understood.
As a film, Tell Me About It is a story told from a place of both empathy and curiosity. It’s about bringing multi-dimensional characters to life, making them feel real so the audience can connect with them and allow them to explore their own curiosity in seeing the world from another’s perspective.
The plot follows Amara, a rebellious British Pakistani teenager whose secret escape from her parents one day leads to her kidnap. It’s a case of mistaken identity, with the real target being the daughter of a politician whose plans to tackle drug crime in the city have brought them in to conflict with the top criminal gang in town.
At its core, the film is trying to explore important discussions against the backdrop of discrimination and political exclusion of immigrant communities. In the media immigrants are often reduced to one dimensional characters, but through film we can show there is much more depth to them. Take the character of the kidnapper. He is an immigrant who was abused at an early age and groomed into the web of drug crime. On one level he is seen just as a thug, but he is also a victim of a failed immigration system that has pushed him into this world.
Many immigrant families evolve distinct lifestyles as they settle in the UK, yet can often feel like they are hiding away or that they are, in a sense, unseen. There is an identity crisis with a lot of immigrants that is never discussed. But we need to talk about how to embrace difference, and the value of unique individuals, rather than having a monocultural society. And with that, making people who feel invisible, visible to the world.
In my view, the film industry is not invested in diverse and original ideas, which limits the voices and faces we hear and see on screen. We are a creative industry yet we are not taking chances on innovative storytelling approaches – we’re more interested in making content off the back of existing IP as an easy, more profitable option rather than serving the needs of more audience groups and honouring new voices.
As a result, there is a huge content gap for cultural content in mainstream media, and a need for meeting the needs of diverse audience groups. This is why it’s pivotal to bring stories like Tell Me About It to an audience. And its important to remind the cinema business audience that there is not just clear cultural opportunities here, there are commercial opportunity with this indie film and others like it.
A final note needs to be made about representing different parts of Britain from a regional perspective. The film was shot in the North and particularly in Bradford. Home to the highest percentages of South Asians in the country, this film reflects the diversity of the city by telling a story of a community that makes up 23% of the city’s population.
With Bradford winning the City of Culture its vital it embraces the varied voices that are trying to speak out. I’m proud to say that myself and the voices in this truly indie film I’ve made are.
Suman Hanif is a multi-award-winning Writer-Producer at Pageful Productions and BFI Creative Producer Alumni 2021. Suman is passionate about breaking taboos with comedy and surprising drama in her creative work. She is best known for her Award-winning documentary film Plates (2016) Multi-award winning Covid Film What Next? (2021) True Colours (BFI – 2021) Debut Feature Tell Me About It (2023) and ‘A Happy Ending’ (Channel 4 – 2023)
With a number of award winning films to her name, this year Suman produced and hosted season one of ‘Who Are You When No One Is Looking?’ exploring the concept of Identity (podcast) and she’s currently developing an original series called Adam vs Satan.
