Super November, Josie Long’s first feature film, had its London premiere last Friday at the East End Film Festival.
With a very limited budget of less than £4000, the film written and starred by Josie Long and directed by Douglas King takes off from the same creative process of their previous collaborations.
The movie starts out as an easy and fun rom-com, following Josie, who just fell in love, and her group of friends who love their afternoon drinking, their extensive record collection and their worry-free life in Glasgow.
After some historical political contextualisation, and a breakup, the film takes a turn into a dystopian police state scenario, that leaves you feeling like you lost some important detail from the first half – a very successful attempt to catch you off guard and surprise you.
It’s inspiring to see what you can do and show on screen on such a limited budget and how you can let the limitations feed your creative process. As long as you’re resourceful and let the ideas flow, you can do (almost) anything!
I’m excited to see what else Josie Long and Douglas King collaboration will bring us in the future. There’s the possibility they’ll be able to work with a little bit more money in their next project – thriftiness and creativity together with those extra pounds may be the perfect recipe.
The East End Film Festival runs until 29th April. Super November is yet to have full theatrical release.
