ISLAND LIVING
LIMBO | Ben Sharrock’s deadpan tale brilliantly reframes the refugee crisis…
It’s been very strange, very bittersweet,” admits Scottish filmmaker Ben Sharrock, whose acclaimed movie Limbo was selected for Cannes 2020 – and numerous other festivals – but Covid-inspired cancellations and travel restrictions meant he’s not been able to bask in the glory. “The film has done everything and more than we wanted it to do,” he adds, “but at the same time, we kind of experienced it all being stuck in our flat.”
Still, this tale of Omar (Amir ElMasry), a Syrian asylum seeker stuck on a fictional Scottish island has caught the eye, even gaining two Bafta nods. After studying in Syria in 2009, the Edinburgh-raised Sharrock gradually moved towards directing. But it was the civil war in Syria and the ensuing refugee crisis that led to writing Limbo.
He sat down armed with “a big list of things” he wanted to avoid, notably using a western character as a vehicle to tell the story. “I was very clear from the beginning that I wanted to put the refugees front and centre of the film, and for it to be about their story.” Sharrock’s intention was also to use “a kind of absurdist, deadpan humour”, already seen in his 2015 debut Pikadero.
Finding an actor capable of this was tricky, with Sharrock and his wife/ producer Irune Gurtubai initiating
a global casting call. “Initially, my intention was to cast a Syrian,” he says. “And we just didn’t find anyone that quite worked.” He then saw British actor Amir El-Masry (Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker). “I immediately thought ‘That’s Omar!’ I went to bed that night, and I just dreamt of him in the role.”
Filmed in treacherous conditions on The Uists in the Outer Hebrides (“It was almost impossible,” Sharrock grimaces), Limbo manages that fine balance between entertainment and enlightenment. A wry meditation on family, home and cultural identity, it will inevitably raise questions about the British government’s refugee policies too. As Sharrock notes, “I absolutely think the UK can do more.” The discourse starts here. JM
ETA | 30 JULY / LIMBO OPENS NEXT MONTH.