Belated New Year Everyone! In case you’re wondering what has happened to me in the last few months? Well, I have been around but trying to juggle too many things!! Apologies to all who follow my blog. I have been up to ‘my eyeballs’ in teaching and post production meetings. Hopefully, I’m back on track and hope to keep you posted with updates:-) Just to let you know, I’m not just a filmmaker but a mother, worker, teacher, carer literally playing all roles. Yes, sometimes it can be difficult to strike the right balance and boundaries can get muddled. Women naturally multi-task and have been doing it for centuries. I really admire and respect my mother’s generation who have been doing it quietly for years without complaints. I never understood until recently why she used to do so much? It’s not that women are not capable of playing different roles but sometimes we need recognition and to be understood. It makes a big difference when partners, children, family or friends appreciate us!!
Ok,going back to our last shoot date, which was the 20th Dec, 2011, at the film studio at Phoenix Square. It was an amazing five/ six hours of non-disturbed filming. Without sounding too cliché, I had to pinch myself as I witnessed my vision come to life on set. This was the poem performance, the final part to my film. In the limited time that we had, I was doing all sorts of crazy stuff, like buying makeup from Asda for our actress before we even got to the studio! Yes I know! Trust me, when you are on a tight budget,you will do anything to make those pennies count! Again, I was not just Director…Producer… but playing numerous other roles, it was quite hilarious at times! Someday, I hope to write memoirs on my journey into filmmaking.
I owe a big thank you to our amazing actress Sareena Rai who gave a magical performance on the day. She was amazing to watch in action. I hope we will be seeing more of her on TV soon! Finally, to be able to say “It’s a wrap!”…was emotional moment for me. It will be something I can look back to and know I was part of making history. I made my ideas and vision come to life! A huge achievement for myself and something I'm very proud to be part of.
As my journey comes to an end. I can't sometimes believe how far I have come. It never crossed my mind that I would reach this stage so quickly. My film now enters the final stages of post- production. Again, many thanks and appreciation to my crew who were very hands on the day! We hope to send my film to film festivals next month. Wish us luck! :-)
Of course I am now hit by the filming bug. What do I do? A short experimental film involving the Somali Development Service of Leicester. This project was filmed and produced in 24hrs and put on Citizen Eye’s front page for the weekend 4th -6th Feb 2012. The weekend when the dreaded EDL decided to return to Leicester for another protest. I would like to thank Managing Director Jawaahir Daahir and Maryam Anshur for their contribution to this project. Again, I am very proud of this project. Ok keep you posted on what I do next!
