A new project from Sky Arts (Art 50) is examining what it will mean to be British in a post-Brexit Britain, with the collaboration of filmmakers and artists from across the UK. The project launched in March 2017 in response to the landmark ‘Leave’ vote in Britain’s 2016 referendum – and acknowledges that this huge decision for the UK’s future is fraught with both complexity and vastly differing opinions.
Amongst the artists taking part is 24-year-old filmmaker Naqqash Khalid, whose short film Stock is one of the fifty creative pieces commissioned by Art 50. This genre-bending tale is billed as an absurdist, post-Brexit fairy tale which examines language, miscommunication and European anxieties in Britain. The short was shot in Manchester and Salford, featuring an array of vibrant European talent including French actors Idir Chender, best known for French-language film Carbone and upcoming American thriller The Negotiator, and Hania Amar, whose previous credits include Until the Birds Return and The Nile Hilton Incident. These performers are starring alongside British actor Sarah Jane Potts, who is already familiar to UK audiences for her work in Waterloo Road.
Find out more about Sky Arts and the Art 50 project at the official website http://www.skyartsart50.tv or discover the filmmaking of Naqqash Khalid at www.naqqashkhalid.co.uk.
Khalid hails from Manchester and has already accrued accolades including the Young Filmmaker Award at the Starburst International Film Festival. Currently developing his first feature, the director’s background is primarily in theatre, with plays which have toured the UK to five-star rave reviews. When not focusing on his own craft, the filmmaker works as an Associate Lecturer in Media and Performance at the University of Salford.