Ray & Liz
Richard Billingham
On the outskirts of Birmingham and the margins of society the Billingham family perform extreme rituals and break social taboos as they muddle through a life decided by factors beyond their control. At times shocking and laced with an unsettling humour, three episodes unfold as a powerful evocation of the experience of growing up in a Black Country council flat.
With : Ella Smith, Justin Salinger, Patrick Romer, Deirdre Kelly, Tony Way, Sam Gittins, Joshua Millard-Lloyd
Screenplay : Richard Billingham
Image : Daniel Landin
Sound : Joakim Sundström
Editing : Tracy Granger
Screenplay : Richard Billingham
Image : Daniel Landin
Sound : Joakim Sundström
Editing : Tracy Granger
Production : Jacqui Davies (Primitiv Film)
Distribution: Potemkine Films
International sales: Luxbox
Distribution: Potemkine Films
International sales: Luxbox
In 1997 Richard Billingham was the first winner of the Deutsche Börse Photography Prize. The following BBC2 broadcast his film Fishtank commissioned by Artangel and filmmaker Adam Curtis. In 2001 he had an exhibition at the Venice Biennale and the same year was shortlisted for the Turner Prize. He mainly works on his close family, zoo animals from around the world, and British landscapes. He wrote and directed Ray & Liz, his first feature for cinema, and shot it where he grew up. His works figure in a number of collections, notably the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum in New York and the Tate Gallery in London.
“The idea had been running through my mind for 20 years, but I'd never been able to put it down in writing. After deciding I would work in film format, I made a first draft. I had in mind the story of my uncle. I wrote it in a couple of hours on the train. I found myself describing gestures, body language, even the way they would sit down. It was very clear to me. Writing it I had the looks, the attitudes, the sounds already laid out. (...) Everything comes from real life and is based, as far as possible, on the way I remember things. I really wanted that to come across in the film. The film refers to some of my photos. Even though it happens at a different time, some of the themes are the same. Shooting this film was like going back in time”. (Richard Billingham)
“The idea had been running through my mind for 20 years, but I'd never been able to put it down in writing. After deciding I would work in film format, I made a first draft. I had in mind the story of my uncle. I wrote it in a couple of hours on the train. I found myself describing gestures, body language, even the way they would sit down. It was very clear to me. Writing it I had the looks, the attitudes, the sounds already laid out. (...) Everything comes from real life and is based, as far as possible, on the way I remember things. I really wanted that to come across in the film. The film refers to some of my photos. Even though it happens at a different time, some of the themes are the same. Shooting this film was like going back in time”. (Richard Billingham)