First time director Mitu Misra’s ‘Lies We Tell’ explores several topics, which have been a point of discussion for sometime. The film, which is produced by Bradford International Film Associates and has been filmed extensively in Bradford, is a thriller bringing to the forefront topics around patriarchy, forced marriages and Islamic divorce.
The film is about Amber a young British Muslim woman living in Bradford and training to be a lawyer, whose elderly American lover Demi dies.
Demi’s driver, Donald, played by Gabriel Byrne is tasked with removing all traces of his boss, Demi’s secret mistress, the beautiful and mysterious Amber, played by newcomer Sybilla Deen. His life quickly becomes enmeshed with her’s as he has to protect her from the clutches of her charismatic but cruel ex-husband, the notorious gangster KD.
Donald soon realises that the patriarchal, traditional Muslim society Amber comes from jars against the independent, modern-day life she is trying to live. He finds himself caught
up in a world of violence, arranged marriages and honour killings.
The British Asian thriller also stars Jan Uddin alongside veteran actors Manzar Sehbai and Harish Patel and new regular cast member of Hollyoaks, Harvey Virdi. The rest of the stellar cast includes Harvey Keitel, Mark Addy, Gina McKee, Emily Atack and Toyah Wilcox. The cinematography has been handled by India’s national award winning cinematographer Santosh Sivan, who has worked on Bollywood films such as Dil Se, Asoka, and for Tamil and Malayalam films such as Iruvar and Kalapani. Bradford film buffs will be in for a treat, to see how the ace cinematographer has captured the stunning locations of Bradford’s city and rural splendours.
The film has already had its hugely successful world premiere at the prestigious Raindance Film Festival last September and it also has had the honour of recently screening in the world renowned Mumbai Film Festival and Australia’s Byron Bay Film Festival.
Director Mitu Misra commented: “I am delighted that my film is set to come out in UK cinemas, a long-held dream. It will give the Asian cinema-goer the opportunity to see a home-grown film that has a contemporary, uncompromising story with a modern-day twist but with a nod to family ties and values that they will recognise. I believe that the audience is crying out for a film that is not only highly entertaining but also looks at current issues that are relevant to them.”
Lies We Tell, will be releasing in UK cinemas on 2 February