BLACK SKINHEAD
FARMING Actor Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje turns writer/director to tell his shocking life story…
I Best known for his work as an actor in Suicide Squad, Thor: The Dark World and Lost, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje turns writer-director for Farming, a film about his own adolescent experience. “To finally be here, and let into the world, it’s akin to letting your child go to school for the first day,” he tells Teasers at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival.
Akinnuoye-Agbaje has reason to be nervous. He’s shining a light on a grim chapter in his life. The title refers to the practice of Nigerian parents ‘farming out’ their children to white British families, hoping for a better future, where circumstances led to him joining a gang of white skinhead thugs, and participating in their racist behaviour.
“There’s always the fact that people are going to judge you,” says AkinnuoyeAgbaje. “But here’s the thing: the story reflects a part of my life. This happened between birth and 16. Ultimately, there’s no harsher judge than myself.”
While Akinnuoye-Agbaje says the film’s not a documentary (“We’re telling an autobiographical story in the medium of entertainment”), he also states that “the essence of the story is true, and to be honest, it’s just the tip of the iceberg”. Akinnuoye-Agbaje cast
Black Mirror’s Damson Idris as Eni, his young self. Kate Beckinsale is his adoptive mother, Gugu Mbatha-Raw a pivotal teacher, and the writer/director plays his own father in a small role. Wearing multiple hats was tough, he says. “But cathartic? Absolutely.”
As hard as it was to share, Akinnuoye Agbaje believes it’s important for his story to be heard. “People have an impression of Great Britain, whether it be the monarchy or James Bond or The Beatles,” he says. “But there’s no real awareness of the black experience in England. This is an unflinching look at life as a black immigrant in Britain that nobody would be aware of. It’s a very important part of our fabric as a country and as a nation.”
ETA | 11 OCTOBER / FARMING OPENS THIS AUTUMN.