Writer/director Amrou Al-Kadhi and producer Savannah James-Bayly of VQFF 2024’s Closing Presentation film Layla discuss the making of their film, which was selected by the BFI and British Council for the Great8 showcase at the 2023 Cannes Marché and premiered in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival.
Layla, Al-Kadhi’s feature directorial debut, tells the story of an up-and-coming British-Palestinian drag queen lighting up east London’s queer scene while falling in love unexpectedly.
Layla will screen on Saturday, September 21, 2024 at The Park Theatre.
Featuring:
Parisa Rafat (Moderator)
Amrou Al-Kadhi – Writer/Director, Layla
Savannah James-Bayly – Producer, Layla
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Parisa Rafat
Parisa Rafat is a non-binary trans masc queer, and first generation Canadian Iranian who grew up in a melting pot of migrant and diasporic SWANA, South-east Asian, and muslim communities as an uninvited settler on the traditional territories of the Kwantlen First Nations, also known Surrey BC. Parisa is currently completing their master’s of architecture degree, a programing coordinator for MENA Film Festival, a community organizer, and emerging multidisciplinary artist. Parisa hopes to synthesis their artistic explorations with their formative education to digest and dissolve their personal dilemmas, critiques, and wonders of the potentials of spatial and visual rejection of colonial and capitalistic societies inspired by queer theory, the abolition movement, and metaphysical spirituality. They are passionate about world building through art and creation of space. Parisa hopes to continue facilitating the bridging of the various creative and queer SWANA communities together as a means of healing the feelings of isolation and disparity for their local diasporic communities.
Amrou Al-Kadhi
Amrou Al-Kadhi is a screenwriter, director, drag queen, actor and author. Their four short films, all centring queer people of colour, have been broadcast on PBS, NOWNESS, BBC 4, BBC iPlayer, Revry and BFI-Player and have played at BAFTA & Oscar-qualifying festivals internationally. As a screenwriter, Amrou co-wrote the final episode of Apple’s LITTLE AMERICA, which The Hollywood Reporter called ‘the show’s pinnacle,’ and named as one of the best 10 episodes of television in 2020; this episode has also won a Glaad award, with the series nominated for Best New Scripted Series at the Independent Spirit awards, and Best International series at the BAFTAs. Amrou was also a writer on BBC America’s series, THE WATCH, and has sold pilot scripts to FX Productions, ABC and BBC Drama. In 2019, Al-Kadhi published their memoir “”Unicorn””, which won the Polari First Book Prize and the Somerset Maugham award, and is being adapted by Amrou with Universal Studios in the United States and The Forge Entertainment producing in the UK. They have contributed regularly for publications including The Guardian, The Independent, and Attitude Magazine.
Savannah James-Bayly
Savannah James-Bayly is a London based film & TV producer and founder of Fox Cub Films. Credits include Layla, the debut feature of writer-director Amrou Al-Kadhi with Film4, BFI and Significant Productions which premiered at Sundance 2024; and two series of Queens of Mystery for AMC label Acorn TV. In 2020 she teamed up with producers Loran Dunn and Sorcha Bacon to create Teen Club, focusing on commercial, positive, queer content for young audiences. Teen Club produced Life in Love – the inaugural programme of ITV-owned platform, Woo, from director Abel Rubinstein. Next on their slate is an adaptation by Britta Lundin (Betty, Riverdale) of the novel Amelia Westlake Was Never Here, co-produced with Working Title. Teen Club is a PACT Future 30 company, and received support through BBC Small Indies fund in 2023. Savannah was a BFI Flare x BAFTA mentee in 2017 and a Film London 2020 Lodestar.
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