Leaving Ealing

Saba Ghasemi's superb LEAVING EALING is brimming with both passion and frustration. It follows the journey of Sima, an Iranian film student currently working towards her graduation piece. She wishes to film in Iran, but must navigate the potentially life-threatening nature of her venture, in addition to the creatively oppressive pushback from her tutors, whilst also staying utterly true to her vision.

The screening I attended at BFI Stephen Street was a truly lovely experience; a gathering of people who clearly had invested a lot of love into the project. There was certainly a sense of catharsis that the film was finally getting its moment to shine.

To touch on the technical briefly, this is a precisely shot and edited work, demonstrating a consistently impressive balance of lighting and a sturdy, confident approach to composition and focus. The sound recording is also as sharp as anything. This is a high-level production.

I already love reflexive filmmaking -- movies that deconstruct the struggles and processes that went into the work of art you're consuming. But for that struggle to be centred around one's culture and family makes this piece feel more substantial than most 'films about filmmaking' student or low-budget works.

It's our protagonist's determination to produce her own art without social or creative compromise that makes this an important and moving story. No matter the dangers posed by the unrest in her home -- and despite her tutors' dispiriting, by-the-books response to filming in the place she is most emotionally connected to -- Sima knows that this journey is not just that of one filmmaker's...

Her narrative has wider-reaching implications outside of personal fulfilment. And the wave of warm support LEAVING EALING received at the screening is illustrative of this. Our character of Sima is compelled to create something honest, and she succeeds.