Director: Luís Hindman
Writers: Sufiyaan Salam & Luís Hindman
Cast: Eben Figueiredo, Gurjeet Singh, Rvin J Ganatra, Kulvinder Ghir
Running time: 18mins
The genus of independent filmmaker that creates the work submitted to IFL is incorrigibly various – from home productions made on a shoestring to extremely well-funded works with lavish production values. Magid/Zafar, a short narrative feature by Luís Hindman, is very much in the latter camp – an iridescently opulent creature.
Hindman, according to the submission notes, in 2015, won the prestigious ‘One to Watch’ awards of the British Film Institute (BFI) and has since gone on to gain further awards and critical acclaim. Here we have an artist very much on the inside track of the UK film industry. This movie was also funded by the BFI, alongside Film 4 (the film production arm of one of Britain’s major TV channels) and the National Lottery.
The role of the National Lottery in UK arts funding fascinates me. The Lottery, predominantly played by the poor, has to, as part of its contract, fund worthy causes including the arts. Frequently, the resulting arts endeavours are priced beyond the means of the poor – the original collective funders. In the case of film, the poor can pick up the scraps, when a work is eventually streamed on terrestrial TV – as I imagine will eventually be the case with Hindman’s movie. But it’s short running time means this is not guaranteed.
With the remorseless logic of late capitalism, many of the movies, including Magid/Zafar, are made by radical filmmakers who try to picture the structural inequalities of contemporary British society – so we have the poor paying for the portrayal of their own immiseration. Wonderful stuff.
At the same time, the money behind the film has enabled a level of opulence seldom afforded in independent short cinema. Of the running time, two minutes are taken up with a credits list that would not look out of place on a mainstream blockbuster. I can envisage many of IFL’s own contributors, if they catch Magid/Zafar, scratching their heads and thinking – look on these mighty works and despair.
I digress, though, because whatever the genesis of its production – Magid/Zafar is a fine piece of cinema. Set in an East London fast food take-away restaurant, run by people who have migrated from Pakistan, the story follows Magid (Eben Figueiredo) arriving for their shift. As Magid goes about business in the frenetic atmosphere of the kitchen, Hindman skilfully allows us to follow Magid’s preoccupations. Through text messages and badinage with customers and fellow workers, we realise that Magid is about to get married and, significantly, to be part of an arranged marriage within the Pakistani community.
As we learn about the imminent marriage, Hindman introduces us to a distraught young man – Zafar (Gurjeet Singh) – first by text messages and then by Zafar turning up at the take-away much to Magid’s discomfort. Magid has not told Zafar about his up-coming wedding, and gradually we surmise that Magid and Zafar are lovers – Magid has compromised their relationship by opting for conformity and the social safety net of the arranged marriage.
Boldly, Hindman gives us a film starkly divided into parts. Action and stillness. The first part is pure frantic movement as Magid and his fellow workers endeavour to fulfil the customers’ orders. At several points, I was totally discombobulated. Alongside the quickfire editing, which requires the audience to makes sense of several strands of narrative, this section of the movie has a pounding score which acts to disorientate us – and this must surely have been the director’s intention. The music alternates between the traditional Pakistani music favoured by the restaurant owner, Magid’s relative, and the jagged contemporary music preferred by Magid’s colleagues. To add to the mix, the traditional folk music is not sugary handicraft but the remorselessly driven Sufi devotional music of Nusrat Fatah Ali Khan – a heady combination.
The central focus of the action sequences is the preparation of food. Hindman takes an approach similar to the innumerable ghastly cookery programmes that dominate contemporary TV schedules. Cooking is war and the enemy is time itself. Slow food, this is not. However, here the director has justification in that they are portraying a specifically fast food process.
The transition from the frenzy of the action sequence to the following stillness is well-judged. Magid and Zafar meet after Magid’s shift in the deserted stockroom of the restaurant illuminated by subdued yellow lighting. The tension in their relationship is ultimately resolved by a supremely passionate and erotic kiss. Here, the performances of Figueiredo and Singh come into their own – they are both fine actors who bring exceptional empathy to their portrayals of Magid and Zafar respectively.
After the kiss? That is it. I noted that Hindman had made a bold decision to go for just two parts. I could not help thinking that they would have been better served to have gone for a symphonic structure of say – action, slow movement, resolution and have introduced a final coda – but that is just your reviewer’s take.
What Hindman certainly does get right is the portrayal of the interactions between the Pakistani restaurant staff and the customers who are from a variety of ethnic groupings. The maelstrom of different patois and attitudes comes across as joyous and celebratory – a triumph.
The only slight quibble I had as to the cultural contextualisation was the visual markers that Hindman uses for Pakistani are pretty trite – the Pakistan national cricket team shirt and the map of Pakistan on the wall of the kitchen. Also, a bit too predictable for me was the use of Nusrat’s music on the soundtrack.
Despite the above minor reservations, Hindman has used his resources exceptionally well. I must note the work of the editor, Joseph Taylor, and the lead cinematographer – Magid/Zafar is a beautiful artefact. I am sure that the film will go on to win awards and critical praise both in the UK and internationally. Who knows – there is even the slim possibility that some of its unwitting funders will get to see it.
Overall: 4 stars
The overall concept of Magid/Zafar is a strong one – arranged marriage, gay relationships in a conservative society, ethnic diversity – but not mind-blowingly original. Doubtless you have your own equally strong and maybe more innovative ideas that you want to picture on film – you might not reach the level of production polish of Hindman’s movie – but give it a go.