Obey, the powerful new British film set during the time of the London Riots (which took place in 2011) will World Premiere in the International Narrative Competition category at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival on Sunday, April 22, 2018.
Obey is about Leon, a nineteen-year-old boy with an alcoholic mother who has grown up in and out of care. Introducing Marcus Rutherford as Leon, who plays the film’s central character, Obey also stars Sophie Kennedy Clark (Philomena, Nymphomaniac, Black Mirror) as Twiggy and T’Nia Miller (Wagstaffe, Stud Life, Marcella, Guilt) as Leon’s mother.
Obey is raw and uncompromising and set against the backdrop of social unrest in London. It is the directorial debut feature from Jamie Jones whose award-winning short film THE NEST starring Vicky McClure was recently selected for Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival and Tampere Film Festival 2017. Produced by Emily Jones of Beyond Fiction and Ross Williams of Harvest Pictures, Executive Produced by John Giwa-Amu (The Party, The Silent Storm, The Machine) of Red & Black Films and with Sound Design by Ben Baird (Lady Macbeth, The Levelling).
Finally free from adult supervision, Leon begins to rail against the injustice of his reality as his dreams become more and more unattainable and distant. Oppressed at home and hunted on the streets by local gangs, Leon’s existence is suffocating, and all too real. When he meets Twiggy, a beautiful blond girl living in a local squat something stirs inside of him. As she introduces him to her world, the weight of his past lifts. He is in love for the first time and for a moment escapes the reality of his unrelenting existence. But naïve to the affluent world supporting Twiggy’s hedonistic lifestyle, Leon is unprepared when Twiggy no longer wants him around. Leon withdraws, allowing his raw and unhampered emotions to take over in the blind fight against his unjust existence with terrifying and brutal consequences.
Director Jamie Jones said: “I’m delighted to have our World Premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival. The journey to get to this point has been long – so i am thrilled that the cast and crew who have worked so hard can bask in this glory! Without their determination and dedication we wouldn’t have got this far. It’s been such a collaborative process every step of the way and we are such a tight team, so really this is a dream for us all.
Obey is a social drama – a politically driven film that highlights the tough plight and frustrations of young adults growing up in London so I am hopeful that it resonates with NY audiences. London and New York are both global cities with complex multi-cultural societies, and I am excited to show an aspect of London that is often unrepresented in cinema to a New York audience.”
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