A marriage of inconvenience
The Romantix' short film for Channel 4 is a blessed union of dreamy imagery and poignant poetry that weaves a tale of female oppression, racism and ultimately freedom.
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Credits
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- Director The Romantix
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Credits
powered by
- Director The Romantix
- Post Production/Color Time Based Arts
- Executive Color Producer Dan Kreeger
- Post Producer Chris Aliano
- Colorist Ruth Wardell
- Music/Sound Design TCTS
- Producer/Editor The Romantix
- Writer Ashica Stephen
- Flame Lead Ria Shroff
- Music/Sound Designer Baz Kaye
Credits
powered by
- Director The Romantix
- Post Production/Color Time Based Arts
- Executive Color Producer Dan Kreeger
- Post Producer Chris Aliano
- Colorist Ruth Wardell
- Music/Sound Design TCTS
- Producer/Editor The Romantix
- Writer Ashica Stephen
- Flame Lead Ria Shroff
- Music/Sound Designer Baz Kaye
“They both knew the deal; love was just a state of mind you forced yourself to feel.”
Some of the lyrical lines in the moving script for the Channel 4 short Brown Brit, which follows a woman’s journey from an arranged marriage in 1987 India to her new life on a North London council estate raising three children.
Helmed, produced and edited by directing duo The Romantix, the film is told through real archival VHS footage from the 80s and 90s. It’s a tribute to a woman's bravery in defying societal norms and escaping “her ill-fitting life.”
It also follows her initial attempt to chase the 'Great British Dream' and blend into English culture while "aspects of India clung to her like a turmeric stain on her fingers," before forging her own destiny, for both herself and for her daughters.
With lush cinematography by Elliott Lowe and post from Time Based Arts, Brown Brit beautifully unites its various elements and is elevated by music and sound from TCTS and Baz Kaye.
Brown Brit is based on My Mother’s Metamorphosis, a published piece written by Ashica Stephen, sister of filmmaker (and half of Romantix) Jay Stephen.
Broadcast on Channel 4 in April 2024, it has since been exclusively streaming on demand. It was originally curated as a part of Defiance a series exploring British Asian stories that's a companion piece to Riz Ahmed’s three-part documentary of the same name.
The protagonist of the story, Aju (above), was completely unaware of the film being made and hadn’t ever seen the footage of herself from nearly 40 years earlier. An intimate surprise screening was organised for her to watch it for the first time with her family.
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