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00:00Hello and welcome to Kent Film Club. I'm Chris Desey and each week I'll be joined by a guest

00:18to dive deep into the impact certain films have had on their life. Each guest will reflect on

00:24the films which have meant the most to them over the years. And every week there will be a Kent

00:28Film Trivia where we quiz you at home about a film that has a connection to the county.

00:34And now let me introduce you to my guest for this week. He is a Folkestone-based writer-director

00:39exploring themes of memory, identity and belonging. He is Elias Suhail. Great to have you on the show.

00:47Thanks for having me. No problem at all. Well I don't know your films in advance and I can see

00:52that, oh Loveless, tell me about this, which is your first choice. Yeah so this is, it's a Russian

00:59film by Andrei, I'm going to butcher his surname now, Zvignitsev. And it's, yeah I found this film

01:08to be, I'm a big fan of his work generally but this film in particular really resonated with me.

01:14Yeah and it's about a, a family who are, this couple who are going through a breakup. They have this,

01:22they have a 12 year old son called Alyosha and he's sort of caught in the middle of this separation.

01:29This, they have, there's a lot of animosity between, between this, between his mother and father and he

01:35overhears a conversation between them one day, an argument where they're sort of, sort of discussing who

01:42will be stuck with Alyosha and then he decides to run away and he disappears and it sort of brings

01:49the, the couple together during their search for their, for their son and it's sort of, the, lots

01:55of questions are left unanswered by the end. Which is often of course the best sort of film

02:01because you're taking a bit of that movie away with you afterwards and thinking what would I do

02:05if I was in this situation? Absolutely. How did you first come across this film? Through his

02:10other works, I think I saw, I think the first film I saw of his was The Return. Again, I haven't seen

02:16a bad film by this director. They're all impeccable and it was a really hard choice to make actually.

02:21I was wondering, you know, trying to determine which, which of his films I would select. And it just

02:28happened to be this one because it was a really powerful, there's a really powerful moment in the

02:32film that has stayed with me, I think, more than any of, I've met most other films that I've seen. So,

02:39yeah. Tell me a bit about the, the background here, because is this like a small screen experience?

02:46When did this film come out? So give me a sense of the context. The film came out in, I think it was

02:512017. And yeah, it's, it's, it is a very cinematic film, but it's also a very sort of quiet film. It's

03:02in that tradition of, I guess, sort of slow cinema that, you know, encourages audiences to sort of pay

03:09attention to what's on the screen. But it's, yeah, really cinematically very beautiful. It's set in

03:15Russia. And I think there's a kind of, I know that he's, the director's never directly answered whether

03:21this film is a critique of Russian society or not. But there have been lots of debates about what the

03:29film is about. And I, my sort of thinking is that it's describing a more of a wider societal issue

03:40around our lack of empathy and compassion, which is perhaps a more, a contemporary sort of

03:48plague that we were experiencing, but it sort of distilled within the context of this, this one

03:53family who lose all sort of love for each other. And they're only able to sort of tap into their

04:02sort of compassion and love for their son once he's out of the picture, once he's disappeared. And

04:08there's a kind of deep longing and regret for their, their behaviour, essentially.

04:12If you watch this more than once, as I'm sure you have, you get something different out of it? Are

04:17you looking at it through maybe a different sort of lens? Do you, do you like grow with the film?

04:21Yeah, I, I, I haven't actually seen it more than once. I've only seen it the, the one time. But,

04:28um, and I, yeah, I, it's a kind of film that it's a bit of, um, you're left somewhat traumatised by the end.

04:35So it's a film that I've always wanted to come back to, but haven't, you know, I feel like you

04:39need to be in the right frame of mind to, to rewatch a film like quite, you know, of this.

04:45That's why I ask, because sometimes there are some films, and this may not be one of them,

04:49where you can just watch again and again. You put yourself in quite a sort of zone.

04:53But there are times, as you say, when you can watch it and you feel it made such an impact.

04:58There's often a sense of trepidation about returning to it, because you always feel,

05:01well, this, this has a, like a life changing thing. What if it doesn't do it again? Because

05:05you almost want to put it into a, into a box and almost sort of say, okay, well, let me

05:11Yeah, there's that too, I think. Yeah. Maybe then it's become this sacred thing. I had such a,

05:16you know, powerful reaction to, to the film that maybe, maybe there's an, an element of not wanting

05:22to revisit it due to, you know, maybe it won't up, you know, hold up. I doubt that would be the case. But,

05:28I mean, it's, I think it would, I think there, I think this is definitely the kind of film where,

05:35I mean, even the framing of shots, there's a lot of sort of reflections in glasses and the frames

05:42within frames and things of, you know, you could tell that the, there's a real attention to detail

05:48in every frame of this film, that it would be the kind of film where, if you were to watch it a second

05:54or third time, that you would pick up new, new things, you know, there would be nuances that

05:59perhaps you'd missed on the, the initial viewing.

06:01Well, it is time now to move on to your second chosen film. And you've gone for, and you know,

06:07this is one of those occasions, I'm going to ask you to tell me the, the title of this film.

06:12Yeah, well, I just call it Jeanne d'Helmel. I don't, I don't go beyond the, beyond that,

06:16but it's 23 Quai de Commerce Bruxelles, I think. And this is by Chantal Ackerman and it was released

06:25in 1975. I was introduced to this film through a film club, actually, that's run by a brilliant

06:33British filmmaker called Joanna Hogg. And she had a retrospective of Chantal Ackerman's work. So,

06:39I only came to know this film maybe 10 years ago through, through Joanna Hogg's film club. And

06:45it was a film that, I mean, I found it incredibly powerful because it's again, one of those, it's

06:51kind of within the tradition of slow cinema. And I think at the time of making, it was very radical

06:56thing to do, making a film like this, that's so slow, that's so mundane in a way. And it's over

07:02three hours long as well. So, but often that's the best way, isn't it? Because it may not be for all

07:07tastes, but you know, I mean, you can, you can have the great superhero movies and things move

07:12very fast, or you can have something that almost feels that, you know, it's almost like your life

07:16that's unfolding in front of you. And, and, and it's, and it can be totally intoxicated. I mean,

07:22I feel like with Mike Lee films sometimes, in the same sort of way. Yeah, I love Mike Lee's films as

07:26well. Um, absolutely. It's, um, it's the kind of film where so little seems to happen that you're,

07:36but, but I find it fascinating. I find domestic life fascinating, domestic chores, domestic routines,

07:41is sort of drudgery of our everyday lives. I find there's real, can be real beauty in that. I feel like

07:48that's where our stories exist actually in our, just in our everyday, not in these necessarily grand

07:54narratives. And this film follows a single mother who, um, to a teenage son, who, um, over the course

08:03of three days is carrying out routine tasks of cooking, cleaning, going shopping. Um, and she's

08:11also a prostitute. She takes the regular, you know, sort of regular clients here and there. But it's a very,

08:16uh, tightly, sort of, um, choreographed routine that she lives by. Um, and on the, the final day,

08:27this third day, she sets her alarm clock an hour earlier than usual by mistake. And when she wakes

08:33up, she buttons up her, her robe and she misses a button. And that detail is so profound because

08:42you've spent the whole time trying to work out what's going to happen. And it just forces your

08:46attention as a viewer to just pay attention to everything. And it seems like such a sort of

08:50cataclysmic moment. You're like, something's very wrong here. And then it sort of goes on.

08:57As you described that, it made me think of a film that couldn't be more different in terms of its

09:02pacing. And that's a run, Lola run, but it's almost like the incidental that something happens

09:07just a second earlier or faster. You see it like a video game and, and it can change the entire

09:12direction of one's life when there's sliding doors moments. Yeah. So, so do you literally follow the

09:17thread? Yeah. But all the way through the film? All the way through, I think so. Yeah. You,

09:21you understand that, um, on this third day, she has an hour in which she can't fill with this routine

09:30that she's sort of, um, choreographed for herself. So that creates a sort of chasm. And within that,

09:36that chasm, she starts sort of reflecting and it fills with a kind of her self reflections and a

09:44kind of rage builds up within her. And then, you know, the film progresses, but, um, yeah.

09:50And, and do you find that it, I mean, in a way it's the question I asked you for the other film,

09:55whether you, you can watch this more than once. Oh, I could. Yeah. A hundred percent. Yeah. I mean,

10:00there is a really quite shocking scene at right at the end of the film, but it didn't contain

10:06I mean, it's very powerful, but, um, um, yeah, I think, I think you could. I mean, again,

10:14you have to be in the right frame of mind. It's over three hours and it's, you know, a slow, a slow,

10:19quite a slow film. So, uh, yeah, no, it's not for everybody, but I, I personally love it. And I love

10:24that kind of filmmaking. Yeah. And, and finally, uh, just tell me about favorite scenes. I think you've

10:31already indicated that, but I, I, I want to know literally what the thread is that, that takes you.

10:35Yeah. I'm not sure there's one scene that sort of, um, uh, stands out. I mean, I do love that this

10:41sort of very almost, it feels almost observational, this, the style of filmmaking, but, you know,

10:47static cameras, wide shots, um, and what I did love about the film was that, um, you know,

10:55it feels very intentional. There's the, uh, Shanta Ackerman was only 25 when she made this film,

11:00but she was such astute and highly accomplished style of filmmaking in my view. And I think it

11:06was sort of dismissed for many years. And I know that it's, you know, it's now being lauded as

11:11this incredible film, but for many years, I think it, it was dismissed by critics and audiences. Um,

11:17and it's now only now gaining sort of the notoriety and attention that, and critically claim,

11:24I think that it, that it, that it really deserves. Yeah. Well, that's about all the time we have for this

11:29first half of the show. However, before we go to the break, we have a Kent film trivia question

11:34for you at home. Which film following the story of a widow features the iconic local landmark,

11:42the White Cliffs of Dover? Is it A, after love, B, a widow's game, or C, widow's walk?

11:50We'll reveal the answer right after this break. Don't go away.

12:05Hello, and welcome back to Kent Film Club. Just before that ad break, we asked you at home a Kent

12:11film trivia question. Which film following the story of a widow features the iconic local landmark,

12:16the White Cliffs of Dover? I asked, is it A, after love, B, a widow's game, or C, widow's walk?

12:23And now I can reveal to you that the answer was, in fact, A, after love. This film features not only

12:29the iconic landmark, but also includes areas in Kingsdown and the recognisable port of Dover

12:34within its filming. Did you get the answer right? Well, it is time now, Elias, to move into your next

12:40chosen film, and you've gone for Under the Skin. Tell me about this.

12:47Yeah, this is a phenomenal piece of work, I think, by Jonathan Glazer. This was released,

12:55I think it was 2012, and it's based on the novel by Michelle Faber, who's actually a Kent-based

13:02author as well. He lives in Folk City, the same town I'm from. And it's an incredible piece of work.

13:11Very interesting in how it's been adapted into this sort of minimalist kind of narrative. Very strange

13:19film about an alien, essentially, who is a kind of predator. And she's preying on

13:28young men in Glasgow driving around in her van. The central character is played by Scarlett Johansson,

13:39and she speaks with an English accent. It's very, not what you'd expect from Scarlett Johansson,

13:47but she's phenomenal in the role as well. And there's just lots of unexpected elements in this film,

13:54which are, you know, incredible. When you put somebody, or take somebody from one

14:00situation in which you might associate them, transplant them to another, it can make the film

14:04feel both sort of very, it feels like something that you recognise, like recognisable, like Glasgow is

14:11a city that you may well know, but also distance at the same time. It sounds like this has a very distinctive

14:17take, you know, so it's an alien film that's set in a big British Scottish city.

14:22Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, what I love about the film is that it sort of marries

14:27sort of sci-fi with almost a kind of radical realism. She's driving around in this white van,

14:36picking up young men as her prey. But those young men at the time of filmmaking weren't aware that they

14:42were being filmed. And these conversations are real conversations that she's having with them.

14:46Because she was quite a star by that point.

14:49Yes, she was. Yeah. And also, I mean, she's disguised quite well. She has, you know,

14:54she wears a black wig and this like, sort of fur coat. The men on the streets don't realise it's

15:00her. She's obviously speaking with a different accent as well. And oftentimes, those scenes of her

15:07driving around are at night time. So I think she's sort of well disguised. But yeah, it's interesting.

15:12And interesting to know what they may have found. I assume that they knew that a film

15:17was being made. Absolutely not. No, no. At the time of the film, there was sort of,

15:21they'd rigged up this camera. It was a sort of, sort of, they shot in a way where they weren't

15:28aware of any cameras. It was sort of secret cameras, I guess, like in this van somehow rigged up. So,

15:34you know, which was really interesting. But she's an alien, and she's sort of on earth,

15:40tending to some kind of mission. And she is preying on these young men, taking them back to

15:49her lair. And we don't quite understand what's happening in the moment where they're sort of,

15:56I don't want to give it too many spoilers, but something happens to these men in this kind of

16:00void. And they're, you know, they're kind of destroyed. But then there's a process of

16:09empathy with this character, she sort of learns empathy. And what's interesting as well, that we're

16:14seeing the almost like the human species, from an outsider perspective, the sort of the strangeness of

16:20the human race. I think that's really fascinating as well. But she encounters this young man that

16:27she picks up, who has sort of facial differences. And she develops a kind of empathy for him, I think

16:34it sort of ignites within her something quite human. And that sort of sends her on a different

16:41route, you know, where she's sort of trying to, yeah. Do you know how any of the people then,

16:48who were in the film without knowing they were in the film, was there any sort of backlash afterwards,

16:53or was there any sort of follow through? Because it sounds like a very innovative way of filmmaking,

16:57and not necessarily one that would be very easy for a lot of people to make. Absolutely. I don't know

17:03what the, I'm sure they would have had to have had releases probably after the fact, you know,

17:08they probably had these conversations in, in the van with Scottie Hansen's character. And then afterwards,

17:14they probably reveal maybe, I don't know. But I'm always fascinated by Jonathan Glazer's work,

17:20because I mean, he has some quite innovative approaches to filmmaking in general, I think.

17:25And often that outsider's perspective, think of something like Midnight Cowboy, John Schlesinger,

17:30what you were saying made me think of that with the idea of somebody from one context, one culture,

17:34one continent, in another, and the way that they look at what they're watching. And it gives you a very

17:39different take. And it's the sort of the outsider's perspective on, you know, what has happened,

17:44you know, what is the human race? Absolutely. Yeah, I don't know, have you seen the film yourself,

17:49there is a scene on the beach, where she witnesses a dog drowning, and the family sort of running after

17:57this dog trying to save him. And one by one, they're sort of swallowed up by the ocean. And then there's

18:02a surfer on the beach, who also tries to rescue the family. And she's just sort of observing this strange

18:08thing, like, why are these people killing themselves, trying to save each other sort of thing. And I think

18:12that was a maybe a trigger point in the film where, you know, she did, she had an experienced empathy

18:18herself, but she was observing it for the first time. Well, it is time now to move on to your final

18:23chosen film, and you've gone for La Grande Voyage. Yes. Tell us about this. So this is another

18:30very interesting film by a French Moroccan filmmaker called Ismael Ferruqi. And this film came out in

18:392004. It was shot in 2001, 2002, and was distributed in 2004. And it's about a father and son who go on

18:50pilgrimage essentially to Mecca by car from France. And it's a film about sort of

19:00generational divides, about disconnection as well. The young son is obviously of mixed cultural

19:10heritage. And that's something I relate to. I'm half Moroccan myself. So on a personal level, I

19:15really related to this film and many of its themes. This sort of cultural disconnect that the son

19:21feels with his father having been raised in France. And, you know, the journey sort of represents

19:27a sort of emotional landscape as well. And their sort of journey to sort of understanding each other

19:34as well, over time. Yeah, it's a very, very special. And the first film, first sort of drama film,

19:40as I understand it, that was shot in in Saudi Arabia during the Hajj. So they've many documentaries

19:46had been made. And, you know, filmed in in Saudi Arabia, but this is the first drama.

19:54So is this something because I mean, the metaphor is a pretty obvious one. And it's sort of an

20:01intercultural connection and also a voyage, a journey. I don't know if it's a road movie as

20:07such, but, you know, the metaphor. Is this something that and also in terms of your own

20:12background that you just mentioned, is this something that you can connect with at different

20:15stages of your life? Have you sort of like gone back over this and seen bits of yourself in this film?

20:19Oh, yeah, absolutely. I think I think a lot of people of mixed cultural heritage will identify

20:27with, you know, that experience of perhaps feeling growing up that you never quite fit in,

20:33in any space. And but also having at the same in the same breath, having a foot in various into

20:40or more cultures. And that, you know, I think over time, you understand actually that what a privileged

20:45position it is to have to have that experience and that identity that you can sort of exist in

20:51as a kind of multiplicity, you know, and not just as as one thing. And, you know, you can see this sort

20:57of emotional arc of this teenage son, how he comes to understand his father and understands, you know,

21:03I think there's also this clash between sort of secular modernity and tradition and spirituality and

21:12faith. And I think there's a kind of journey that the son goes on just in understanding the merit in

21:19in his father that he's not just this illiterate sort of, you know, old man who knows nothing about

21:25the world, you know, there's a real wisdom and, you know, he's able to impart that to his son.

21:29Yeah. As you were describing that made me think Walter Salas' central station. And again,

21:34the sort of film, in that case, it's a young boy and an older woman. But it's almost that you can

21:39watch it from the perspective of the older woman, you can watch it from the perspective of the young

21:43boy. Sounds like something similar can happen with this film, depending on at what point you

21:47intersect with it. Yeah. And again, the character, the actor who plays Reda, the central protagonist,

21:55offers an incredible performance. And it's all at the end where he just,

21:58again, like this emotional unleashing, I just thought it was, yeah, I tend to,

22:03a lot of the films I've chosen are quite bleak actually. But there is quite, so it's quite a

22:07tragedy at the end. But it's, yeah, really special. But have you watched this one again?

22:11I haven't, no, again, only one time. So again, an interesting thread that your four

22:15films are films that you've made an impression and you've sort of demarcated them. I think so,

22:20yeah. Except for, I think, Under the Skin. I mean, there was, and the only reason I saw that was

22:25because Michel Faber was at a screening and talking about, you know, the journey of having

22:31his film adapted, that I saw it again. But yeah, it's one that I think maybe that's what it is.

22:35Maybe there's a kind of sacred sort of… Yeah. And are there any particular scenes

22:42here that really have stood the test of time, especially as you've only seen it that once?

22:47So what do you think of this film? What comes to mind?

22:50I mean, there is the ending, which I've mentioned, where, I don't want to give any spoilers,

22:56but there is a sort of emotional release that the Sun experiences, a kind of grief. And it just felt

23:03very, it came from a very, again, very sort of deep place within that. I'm not sure how he was able to

23:09elicit such a performance. But there are other scenes throughout as well, almost sort of surrealist,

23:14you don't quite know where the line between reality and dream sort of begins and ends. And

23:23there are some certain scenes in there. So, yeah. Well, I'm afraid that's all the time we have for

23:28today. But before we go, if you live in Kent and want the chance to share four films of your choice,

23:33reach out to us at KMTV and you might be invited in to be my next guest. But for now, many thanks to

23:39Aaliyah Suhail for joining us and being such a brilliant guest. And many thanks to you all for

23:45tuning in. Until then, that's all from us. Goodbye.

Kent Film Club - Elias Suhail (Thursday 30th October 2025)

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