Raw, abrasive, brutal but brave, Break My Fall is the hopeless tale of two young lovers desperately clinging to a passion shared, now lost.
Set amidst the gritty underbelly of the London squat scene, UK film director Kanchi Wichmann’s latest low budget drama offers an intimate and emotive insight into the final stages of a young lesbian couple’s relationship. Unravelling over the course of four debauched nights and centred around the dysfunctional attitudes lovers Liza (Kat Redstone) and Sally (Sophie Anderson) both share, the film charts two girls’ decline, as they fall out of love with one other and subsequently lose control over their lives.
Featuring music from Wetdog, Micachu, Numbers, Scout Niblett and Peggy Sue, shot on Fujifilm Super 16mm by a crew of ten and filmed on location around East London, Kanchi spent just three weeks compiling and editing Break My Fall. Casting Kat at a carboot sale and scouting Sophie online, Kanchi constructed the film’s set in a dilapidated semi-detached house in Stoke Newington. The essence of the film is honesty; endeavouring to accurately represent a slice of the drug infested subcultures prevalent in London. In a comparable style to Shane Meadows’ and Paddy Considine’s graphic tones and unforgiving techniques, Kanchi’s voyeuristic camera angles allow her audience to get involved with each character’s innermost feelings, from romantic interchanges to aggressive outbursts. Shedding a harsh light upon our generation’s after-hours antics, Break My Fall intelligently avoids being gratuitous but rather, hones in on realism.
Premiering at Film de Femmes (Paris) and the London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival in April 2011, Break My Fall is now showing at the Apollo Cinema, Piccadilly Circus.
i-D online caught-up with Kat and Sophie to chat about how their on-screen relationship impacted their off-screen dynamic down at Kat’s Clapton-based digs.
