music by Chris D'Lima

THE FILM

"Haunted by her late mother’s praise of her smooth face, Chikana begins to obsess over her developing wrinkles, and concocts an absurd and extreme way to stop them in their tracks."

Tell Your Face is an absurd comedy, discussing the pressures that society puts upon our ageing process, and the role that each generation has to play in that. Through matching the absurdity of staying young forever, we've created a mad, fun, beautiful and thought-provoking way of bringing this discussion to film, testing where the boundaries really sit when it comes to staying forever young.

WRITER'S STATEMENT

This mad film came to me after telling my partner to "stop making me laugh because I'm gonna get wrinkles". I was joking obviously. Definitely joking...right?
The world is constantly feeding us this idea that smooth = good, wrinkly = bad. We’re at a time where freezing our faces is becoming the norm, with more and more people "having work done" younger and younger. The aim seemingly being:
Stay forever young?
Youthful skin has always been idolized, but modern medicine is making it feel within reach, tempting us with the idea of turning back time, or even, never ageing at all. A seemingly ideal option, until you consider where we may be headed...towards a dystopian future where no one looks their age and maybe, even, where no one moves their face? I started wondering how this will carry into future generations.
And TELL YOUR FACE was born. And it grew into something more personal and exciting than I could have imagined...

THE PROCESS

Tell Your Face was filmed over four days in June, in North/North-East London. It's currently in post-production!

THE ASK

The film is now in the edit (and looking great, may we add!), but we need your help to get it over the finishing line. We all believe in this film, and want to ensure the final product honors the incredible work our wonderful team has put in so far. From putting together an incredible soundtrack that elevates the film, to sharing it with the world through festivals and marketing; we want every aspect to be at the highest level possible, to match the level our team have been working at.

THE TEAM

director - Jill Worsley

Jill is a multi-award winning and 2x BAFTA nominated director. With a career spanning 20 years in the industry, she has directed and scripted a wide range of programmes for BBC, ITV and Channel 4. Whatever the genre, she strives to make films with humour and pathos.

writer & producer - Olivia D'Lima

Olivia is an actor, writer & producer. She has created numerous projects, including the BIFA-qualifying short film, Beige, and the award-winning web series, Naughties. Most recently, her script for the short proof-of-concept film, Scallywags, gained the Phoebe Frances Brown Film Fund from Mister Tibbs.

director of photography - Kartik Vijay (ISC)

An independent cinematographer for almost 21 years, Kartik has lensed 14 feature films and over 450 commercials and short films. Some of which have showcased and won awards at Cannes Film Festival, Tribeca Film Festival and Sundance Film Festival. He has been nominated 4 times for the ‘Best Cinematography’ award at The Golden Horse Film Festival (‘The Oscars of the East’).

THE CAST

We were very lucky to put together an incredible team of actors to bring this story to life! Their chemistry and energy was a joy to watch each day.

CHIKANA - Olivia D’Lima (100 Nights of Hero, The Killing Kind, Casualty) | MAURICE - Priya Davdra (Eastenders, Queenie, Count Abdulla) | RYAN - Paul G Raymond (Black Mirror, Buffering, Horrible Histories) | SARAH - Gabriella Leon (Maryland, Casualty, Shakespeare & Hathaway) | JESSICA - Naomi Denny (Breathtaking, Dreamland) | ELA - Fisun Burgess (PRU, Honour, Casualty) | Shayan Ghai (There Will Come Soft Rains)

THE CREW & THE SET

Our wonderful crew consists of team members from across the UK, Mainland Europe, East Asia, South Asia and more. More than half of the crew are female and/or non-binary, and we were also excited to give some team members their first credits in new roles. We were in awe of how quickly everyone gelled; working together to create rapport, laughter, and amazing results. We're also happy to report that some people who met on the set have continued working together!
The whole shoot took place in North/North-East London, in areas very familiar to the core team. Such as Winchmore Hill; where Olivia (writer, producer, actor) grew up, and in Hackney; where Jill (director) lives.

THE KIT

We were fortunate enough to shoot on the DJI Ronin 4D; the same camera used in the Emmy-nominated Netflix show, Adolescence. We selected this camera as it's known for it's flexibility and smooth handheld shots, which was essential for some of our ambitious scenes and montages.

THE FUNDRAISER

This is Olivia's first film fundraiser, so we're really excited to be sharing it with you today! Though she may be new to this side of fundraising, she has supported numerous fundraising projects in the past, and does as much as possible to support other filmmakers.

If you like what you've seen, heard & read, we'd love to have you on board as our supporter.
Thank you!
Tell Your Face Team x