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Film-makers in the heart of Soho: Jacqui Morris and brother David |
Finding Mr Right in familiar places?
WRITTEN in Soho, set in Soho, and soon to be screened in Soho, the feature film Mr Right is undoubtedly a local story.
But the comedy – the country’s first “hom-rom-com” about a love triangle of three gay couples and shot on a shoestring budget – won international acclaim this week.
The Aussie pop princess Dannii Minogue “loved” it so much she has even agreed to come to a special screening at the Prince Charles Cinema on July 17.
Casting director Jacqui Morris, who lives in Frith Street – a member of Soho Green – whose children go to Soho Parish School, has made her first feature film with her brother David, who lives in Old Compton Street.
They have recently set up a film company and have already won some prestigious awards for a series of shorts.
She told me: “David is gay, and knew there was a gap in the market for a film portraying gay people in a different light.
“No drag queens or high heels, so he wrote a film which takes a realistic look at a London-based group of friends whose sexuality is of secondary importance to their stories.
“To make a post ‘gay-issues’ film in which, although most of the main characters are gay, being gay isn’t what motivates their stories.
“Aware that characters in conventional rom-coms like Four Weddings and a Funeral don’t stand around talking about being straight. Why shouldn’t the same principle apply to hom-coms?”
Dozens of Soho institutions allowed the fledgling film-makers to use their locations for free.
“Just about every local resident is in it,” she added triumphantly.
Next up for the Morris double-act is “a sideways humorous look at greed in the post-Blairite era”.
The screenings are for three Friday nights at the Prince Charles Cinema from July 10.
For details see: www.queryourself. com
Drawing heads, not portraits
WHEN faced with the arresting stare of writers, publishers and literary agents, their penetrating gaze looming out of the canvasses, you could be forgiven for feeling just the slightest bit nervous.
That was certainly how the artist Matthew Carr felt when he drew these intellectual giants from life.
“I felt like I was the one being inspected,” he said.
“Though it did produce fascinating, high quality gossip!”
Carr’s latest works, the first in five years, have a distinctly literary feel and the portraits include the faces of Sebastian Faulks, AN Wilson and Beryl Bainbridge – who was his favourite subject – among others.
The exhibition, simply called New Works, also displays a five-panel sketch of Yorkshire, a deeply gorgeous nude, and high contrast sketches of a rhino, the family dog, and crows, all of which were drawn from life.
“It’s absolutely always from life. A camera makes decisions for you”, he enthuses.
“I had a mixture of real and stuffed crows in the studio,” he adds.
For Carr, however, it is all about faces.
The faces seem to be carved from the page itself, darkly revealing themselves in contrasting shadow, often without a jawline, or even hair.
“I don’t consider them portraits. They’re drawings of heads. I always go back to drawing people in the end. I love the rhino, and the birds, but I go back to heads in the end.”
Garden tower
THIS Rapunzel-like tower has appeared in the middle of Covent Garden.
But if you’re waiting for a long mane of hair to pull you up, don’t bother. Just take the stairs and enjoy the view from the private cabin.
The six-metre installation, a joint venture from 6a Architects and fashion designer Eley Kishimoto, is intended to offer a whole new perspective on the piazza.
With a nod to the damsel in distress, the tower has been named Hairywood – a retreat from the throngs of Covent Garden shoppers.
It will remain in the area until July 20. |
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