Filmmaking while Living in Exile with Nadira Murray
Political exile and award-winning filmmaker, Nadira Murray, tells Film Forums' Aiysha Jebali exactly what inspired her cinematic rendition of the UK former "Fast Track" deportation system in her film Locked In (2017).When we think of such a topic as detention centres and deportation, we often expect to see it in a documentary format. This can sometimes feel quite detached and almost cold. We may even be less connected to the very raw subjects featured than we are to the characters in a far less realistic Sci-Fi movie.It was this knowledge and Murray's personal love of cinema that spurred her on to bring the stories of so many in suffering to life in a narrative film with characters we could relate to.Her RADA training and strong acting background meant that Nadira was dedicated to finding the right people to tell this important story via crucial casting efforts.Not to mention, it has been over 16 years since Nadira herself has been able to return home to Uzbekistan, since fleeing for political protection.Nadira knows this story all too well and has stood hand-in-hand with many others who are new to the UK and desperately trying to navigate our seemingly complex immigration systems in order to literally save their own lives.