Debbie Anzalone: COI

Anzalone’s two spots for the Home Office in its latest anti-knife crime campaign were filmed at Wormwood Scrubs prison and feature the stories of real victims and perpetrators of knife crime. It took two months of preproduction and some considerable time to get access to the prisoners but – as the results show – the effort was definitely worthwhile.

“I didn’t know what to expect, and some of the things they said were tough to hear,” says director Debbie Anzalone of the young people’s testimonies featured in her spots against knife crime. “But they were incredibly open, able and willing to talk about what they had been through.”

The raw and heart-crunching accounts from prisoners and victims grab the attention of the viewer and provide a grim insight into the often horrifying consequences of carrying a knife and using it against someone.

“What was important from the beginning of the project was to ensure that young people watching the films did not undermine it or feel that this couldn’t happen to them,” explains Anzalone. “It was important for us to tell a story that was believable and that would highlight the serious consequences of being involved with knives.”

For these spots, Anzalone harked back to her previous experience as a documentary director, which has informed her commercial work immensely.

“I love working in documentary style with real people as you have a chance to create film which feels so unscripted,” she states. “Asking contributors to share something they may have never told anyone before is part of the experience I brought to this project from my documentary making – it was invaluable when interviewing the prisoners.”

Currently signed to MandY Films, the Royal College of Art graduate knew she wanted to direct and had become hooked on making films from the first time she picked up a camera as a teenager.

“I worked as a director’s assistant for some very good directors on commercials and long-form documentaries,” she recalls. “It turned out to be the perfect combination and experience to be doing what I’m doing right now.”

She has made two series for Channel 4’s Three Minute Wonder strand, and has been commissioned to make a 15-minute documentary for a Tate Modern/Sadler’s Wells co-production about the world–renowned choreographer William Forsythe. And while she leans towards a documentary style, she’s also keen to work with fiction that feels “engaging and real”. And what would her dream project be with unlimited funds? She simply answers: “something unforgettable.”