Andy De Emmony Q&A

My Q&A with director, Andy De Emmony, back in 2011. De Emmony is directing now THE NEST on BBC One starring Martin Compston and Sophie Rundle.

1. What firstly drew you to the film?

 I loved 'East is East', and found it quite daunting but on this occasion you get a more three dimensional character of George and it serves as a bookend to the first film. Ayub wanted to complete after the first film and it felt fresh even though it is the same family but on a different journey.

2. What do you remember of the original, 'East is East'?

I remember being drawn to the family aspect, and that generational gap within a family and where do you fit in.  But also the use of comedy as a release valve for the emotion presnt.

3. What was your working relationship with Ayub Khan Din?

We had a very good working relationship with Ayub, they came to me to collaborate after Damien O'Donnell did not chose to be involved.  And in spite of the autobiographical content he did not see it as a biopic, and instead lets just make the film work which gave us a lot of freedom.

4. What were the pros and cons of shooting in a foreign country?

 I found it quite daunting to work in India, but a pro was the manpower which allowed you flexibility (The house built by George in the film was built in 5 days by this manpower) and the long days allowed us to shoot longer in the days in comparison to England.  A pro would be the language barrier, as about 20% of the script is in Punjab and in the end it came down to reading looks of actors, and even some of the actors who spoke Punjab in the film had to have voice coaches for certain scenes. 

5.What happened to Jimi Mistry's role? And were you impressed by the debutant Aqib Khan

Jimi Mistry's role was written bigger, but the focus was on Sajid the youngest, his story and journey.  And Aqib was brilliant, he had a temperament that fitted the character and he was helped by the components and good actors we put around him.

6. Is there going to be a third film?

The producer, Leslee Udwin, has always seen the film as a possible trilogy and there is a proposal in place if people connect to this film like they did 'East is East'

7. How do you react to criticism of the film being 'quaint' or 'too much like a sitcom'.

I think when you make a film about a family it is hard to contain it and I hope the audience can reconnect and new audiences connect with these characters and laugh with them.  I felt if we had made a sweeping political statement about Pakistan, the family story and emotional bond would have been lost in the mix.

8. What have you been up to recently and what is next?

I have been shooting commericals in Australia, but we are waiting for funding [like most people in Britain] for a film written by William Boyd ('Chaplin', 'Any Human Heart') called 'The Galapagos Affair', based on John Treherne's novel, which we hope we start shooting soon.