Principal photography has completed on Adura Onashile’s feature debut GIRL. The shoot is taking place in Glasgow, Scotland.
Written and directed by Adura Onashile with producers Rosie Crerar and Ciara Barry from Scottish production outfit, barry crerar. The film has been developed via iFeatures and BBC Film, and is supported in production by the BFI (awarding National Lottery funding), BBC Film and Screen Scotland.
In this coming of age drama, 11 year old Ama and her mother, Grace, take solace in the gentle but isolated world they obsessively create. But Ama’s growing up threatens the boundaries of their tenderness, and forces Grace to reckon with a past that she struggles to forget.
The cast of GIRL includes César award-winning Déborah Lukumuena (DIVINES) in her first English language role. Following ROBUST (MISFITS) alongside Gerard Depardieu and THE BRAVES (ENTRE LES VAGUES). Lukumuena is joined by Danny Sapani (BLACK PANTHER, EAR FOR EYE) and newcomers, Leshantey Bonsu and Lana Turner.
GIRL is Glasgow based Screen Star of Tomorrow Adura Onashile’s feature debut, following her Scottish BAFTA nominated short film EXPENSIVE SHIT, produced by barry crerar in 2020. Adura Onashile wrote and directed GHOSTS for the National Theatre of Scotland in 2021, and stage play ‘Expensive S**t’ which won a Fringe First award in 2016.
BFI Vision Awardees barry crerar have developed GIRL with Adura since 2017. This will be their feature debut as lead producers, following co-productions NOBODY HAS TO KNOW (2021) dir Bouli Lanners and RUN (2019) dir Scott Graham.
“Told from both their points of view, GIRL is a love story between a young girl and her mother. It is a story of wonder and intimacy, of vulnerability and fear and of not being able to let go even when you know it is the right thing to do. A coming of age story that centres on a young girls burgeoning physicality and curiosity of the world against her mother’s inability to leave the past behind or let herself become the woman she could be. I have always been intrigued by the intimacy that can be present in mother/daughter relationships. Developing the screenplay with iFeatures and BBC Film has allowed me to be forensic in the light and shade of this dynamic, to question how beautiful and fraught this relationship can be and how it can be the foundation for everything we know about ourselves as women and our place in the world.” Adura Onashile
More information
GIRL is supported in production by the BFI awarding National Lottery funding, BBC Film and Screen Scotland through The National Lottery and Scottish Government through Screen Scotland.
ABOUT THE BFI FILM FUND
The BFI Film Fund invests around £25 million of National Lottery funding a year into developing and supporting filmmakers with diverse, bold and distinctive projects, that have a cultural relevance or progressive ideas, and which reflect people from different backgrounds, as well as a range of activities to increase the opportunities for audiences to enjoy them.
Feature films supported by the BFI Film Fund screening at BFI London Film Festival (LFF) this year include world premieres of The Phantom of the Open directed by Craig Roberts and written by Simon Farnaby, ear for eye directed by debbie tucker green, and VR animation Laika directed by Asif Kapadia. UK premieres of BFI-backed films at LFF include: Mothering Sunday, directed by Eva Husson and written by Alice Birch, which world premiered at Cannes and was selected for the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF); Joanna Hogg’s The Souvenir: Part II, which world premiered in Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes in 2021 and is in official selection at San Sebastian; Clio Barnard’s Ali & Ava, which world premiered in Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes and was selected for TIFF; Terence Davies’ Benediction, which had its world premiere at TIFF and is selected for San Sebastian; True Things directed by Harry Wootliff, which world premiered at the Venice Film Festival; Earwig, directed by Lucile Hadžihalilović, which world premiered at TIFF and is also in official selection at San Sebastian; The Real Charlie Chaplin directed by Peter Middleton and James Spinney, which had its world premiere at Telluride; and The Feast (Gwledd) directed by Lee Haven Jones, produced through Ffilm Cymru Wales’ Cinematic scheme supported by the BFI, which had its world premiere at SXSW and is in the First Feature Competition at LFF.
Other recent and forthcoming releases supported by the BFI include: Goliath: Playing with Reality directed by Barry Gene Murphy and May Abdalla, which won the Grand Jury Prize for Best VR Work at this year’s Venice Film Festival; Censor directed by Prano Bailey-Bond starring Niamh Algar; Herself directed by Phyllida Lloyd and written by Malcolm Campbell and Clare Dunne; and debut features from Reggie Yates, Dionne Edwards and Aml Ameen for Pirates, Pretty Red Dress and Boxing Day respectively.
The BFI also supported seven-time BAFTA nominee and multi BAFTA-winning Rocks directed by Sarah Gavron and written by Theresa Ikoko and Claire Wilson, Ammonite directed by Francis Lee starring Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan, and Saint Maud directed by Rose Glass featuring EE BAFTA Rising Star nominee Morfydd Clark. Recently released titles include Aleem Khan’s debut feature After Love and Harry MacQueen’s second feature Supernova, starring Colin Firth and Stanley Tucci, and the BIFA-winning and BAFTA-nominated Limbo directed by Ben Sharrock.
ABOUT THE BFI:
We are a cultural charity, a National Lottery distributor, and the UK’s lead organisation for film and the moving image. Our mission is:
- To support creativity and actively seek out the next generation of UK storytellers
- To grow and care for the BFI National Archive, the world’s largest film and television archive
- To offer the widest range of UK and international moving image culture through our programmes and festivals - delivered online and in venue
- To use our knowledge to educate and deepen public appreciation and understanding
- To work with Government and industry to ensure the continued growth of the UK’s screen industries
Founded in 1933, the BFI is a registered charity governed by Royal Charter. The BFI Board of Governors is chaired by Tim Richards.
BBC Film
BBC Film supports invigorating and imaginative filmmaking. Firmly established at the forefront of UK film, BBC Film has an ambitious slate featuring many of the most exciting filmmakers working today. Every film is linked by a sense of urgency – these are stories for now.
BBC Film has supported nine feature films and four shorts at the 2021 London Film Festival: Jane Campion’s, THE POWER OF THE DOG starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Jessie Plemons and Kirsten Dunst; Andrea Arnold’s COW; Craig Roberts’ THE PHANTOM OF THE OPEN, starring Mark Rylance and Sally Hawkins; EAR FOR EYE, the second feature from debbie tucker green featuring an ensemble cast including Lashana Lynch, Tosin Cole, Carmen Munroe, Danny Sapani, Nadine Marshall and Arinzé Kene; Harry Wootliff’s second film TRUE THINGS starring Ruth Wilson and Tom Burke; Joanna Hogg’s THE SOUVENIR PART II; Clio Barnard’s ALI & AVA starring Adeel Akhtar and Claire Rushbrook; and Ewen Spencer’s feature documentary 8-BAR – THE EVOLUTION OF GRIME. The four shorts are Harris Dickinson’s 2003; John Ogunmuyiwa’s PRECIOUS HAIR AND BEAUTY; Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor’s FOR LOVE; and Sophie Littman’s KNOW THE GRASS.
Upcoming BBC Film titles TUESDAY, the debut feature from Daina O’Pusic starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Lola Petticrew and Arinzé Kene; MEDUSA DELUXE, the debut from Thomas Hardiman; GOD’S CREATURES starring Emily Watson and Paul Mescal and directed by Saela Davis and Anna Rose Holmer; PIRATES, the directorial debut of Reggie Yates; HERE BEFORE, the debut of acclaimed playwright, Stacey Gregg starring Andrea Riseborouh; TRIANGLE OF SADNESS, the English language debut of Ruben Östlund starring Woody Harrelson, Harris Dickinson and Charlbi Dean; THE ETERNAL DAUGHTER, also from Joanna Hogg and starring Tilda Swinton.
Screen Scotland
Screen Scotland is driving the cultural, social and economic development of all aspects of the sector in Scotland through enhanced funding, services and support and backing from Scottish Government and The National Lottery. Screen Scotland sits within Creative Scotland and works in partnership with Scottish Enterprise, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Skills Development Scotland, Scottish Funding Council, working in close collaboration with the sector to ensure its success. Twitter / Instagram.
Header image: Still from GIRL, courtesy of barry crerar