Home is Where the Heart is – a BAFT 3rd Year Film

As part of the LCC’s Graduate Showcase, we will be featuring the works of students from across Screen School, giving an insight into their graduation projects. For the first week we have Home is Where the Heart is, a Third Year, BA Film and Television film directed by Asma Abdulrahman and produced by Adem Kurdash.

Despite being born in London, Birmingham became the city that Asma proudly called home at the age of eighteen. A West Midlands metropolis that lacks recognition and appreciation, despite its booming sense of culture and community.

Digbeth is the heart of Birmingham, booming in independent businesses, fashion, and art, and one of this story’s crucial components, St Basils. As a youth homelessness charity providing support, accommodation, and a voice to young people aged 16 to 25, St Basils played a pivotal role in Asma’s story: with their support, she found safe housing after leaving home. 

As she retraces her steps through Birmingham, the audience explores new stories of the young residents of St Basils, observing their changing lives as they gain support, encouragement, and autonomy throughout their journeys…

We spoke with Asma and Adem to discuss their work as director and producer on Home is Where the Heart is.

ASMA ABDULRAHMAN (Director)

• How did you come up with the idea for the film? What are the themes explored in your film?

I came up with the idea for home is where the heart is, in my second year during our factual assignment, and then developed it in Story Development. It was initially a documentary about St Basils – a charity in Birmingham that helped me when I left home at 18, and the amazing work they do, but as I developed it further I wanted to showcase the city of Birmingham and the community it has, as we don’t see a lot of it represented positively in the media. It’s a really special project to me as I get to use my degree to share my story, as well as other young people who’ve had the same lived experience as me through St basils, its really exciting to have this opportunity.

• How was your experience working as a director?

Its been really tough! Working on a passion project as a director, especially a documentary, is not as easy as you’d think, having to relive some traumatic moments in my life for creative reasons is as hard as it is rewarding, but it’s been really healing meeting the young people, it definitely inspired me to want to make this film even more. I got to interview staff from the charity too and it was nice to build a professional relationship with them, and be seen as a director despite not directing much before. I really enjoyed this process as its allowed me to share my love for the city of Birmingham and pay homage to the people that helped me get to where I am today.

• How is the edit of the film coming along?

I’ve just seen a rough cut of it today, there’s definitely some tweaking but I think my editor, Rhiann Edwards-Roberts has a really good eye and has done a good job picking out some of the best bits we got on our 3-day shoot in Birmingham, however, I definitely think we need to collect some more footage. I did a fundraiser in January to raise some of our production costs, so I’m considering setting up another so my DOP and I can go back and reshoot some parts, to make this film as beautiful as it can be. I’ll also make any excuse to go back to Birmingham, it’s such a great city we don’t see enough of!

ADEM KURDASH (Producer)

• What were the challenges in making the film? How was your overall experience in producing?

This is not my first time producing, and hopefully not my last. Each project comes with its own set of challenges. The biggest challenge within this project was the ethical implications, making sure interviewees and crew members were comfortable throughout. Moreover, a final cut of the documentary will be shown to the interviewees to ensure that they are comfortable with what will be released.

• How was your collaboration with the crew?

On the shoot, the crew collaborated well together, overcoming any limitations or problems that arose. The on-set dynamic is key to motivating the crew to achieve the best film possible.

• What are the next steps with the film once it’s completed?

The purpose of the film is not solely for film festivals, but a documentary festival release will hopefully reach a wider audience as well as an online release. After that, it’s on to the next one. 

Home is Where the Heart is currently in post-production and is expected to finish by May 2023.