London Heat
Good art is often evocative and by that definition London Heat is good art. The short film was written by Ola Masha and directed by Olan Collardy and features young talented British actors Rochelle Neil, Leemore Marrett Jr and Alex Aplerku. I was at the premier of the film on Sunday evening and what I enjoyed the most is how the film was set on a council estate in London, but avoided turning its characters into homogeneous victims of the urban drama genre. I am a huge advocate for diverse portrayals of Black British culture, and that is why London Heat as a project that interrogates cliche’s and uses the urban drama as its chosen medium is a great concept. The decision to use SBTV as a platform for the film was an ideal move as it is the perfect space to engage with young British inner city society. Particularly the young Black British community that are typically the subject of urban films, but are rarely the investors or the primary consumers once these films hit British TV.
For me, London Heat felt like a free therapy session. A black love triangle, with a beautiful sister called Jasmine at the epicentre. A tug of war ensues between her ex man (who is nameless), and her next man (Malcolm) who she distances herself from emotionally and casually refers to as her friend. Universal themes of love, lust and jealousy are shot beautifully. The close ups and wide shots are executed with such skill that you felt the paranoia and frustration of Jasmine’s ex boyfriend as he cruises the block in his car. Malcolm is not only a threat as a fellow hustler, but a threat to his ownership of Jasmine. Malcolm’s character is developed outside the stereotypical cliche’s of Black masculinity and this is one of the joys of London Heat. Not only is Malcolm enthusiastic about jazz and historical cultural movements like the Harlem Renaissance, he’s a man willing to take care of woman and her child that isn’t his. Jasmine is hurt and non-commital, but he is obviously in love and he handles her with care. My only issue with London Heat is that I wish it was longer. It will be interesting to see how the project develops and how the main characters are humanised in the way Malcolm was.
The Q&A session that followed the screening featured Ola Masha, Olan Collardy and Rochelle Neil who plays Jasmine on the panel. Q&A sessions provide an opportunity to get closer to the methodology behind a film and the London Heat team were at their best ill prepared for the session and at their worst elitist and flippant. When asked about the challenges of the project Rochelle Neil explained that because she is “well spoken” playing Jasmine was challenging. She went on to tell us that she was “well spoken” in almost every response to every question as if she had contempt for her less “well spoken” character and by extension the urban SBTV audience that will be supporting this project. Olan was asked to define “what is urban?” and explained that when studying sociology in Nigeria he was taught society consisted of “rural” and “urban” spaces as if the question was a joke rather than a genuine enquiry about a genre that is so vague, yet so definitive. At no point did the panelists give London Heat the empathy it deserved. Instead more time was spent personally disassociating themselves from urban culture as if themes such as baby mama drama are contagious. Of course, it is necessary that we interrogate the urban drama as a genre in the same way we critically engage with film as a whole. However, the objective should be a progressive conversation around quality and creativity. I congratulate the team for creating an excellent film, but the authenticity of the project was compromised by the need to constantly devalue the genre that London Heat is a part of.