Interview: Deaf director Bim Ajadi on new hip-hop drama, ‘Here/Not Here’, released today

“I would say it’s quite a unique film, but it has a really unique combination of a variety of things going on,” says director Bim Ajadi about his new film, Here/Not Here.

The hip hop drama, which combines sport, dance and visual vernacular, has its TV premiere today on Film 4 and Together TV, as well as being available to watch online on the BSL Zone website.

“Then we obviously have sort of social/political issues in the film, as well,” he continues. “So I think there’s plenty of themes in there and characters that people can get really interested in and connect with.”

The story, written by Jonzi D, follows three rival groups – footballers, Krumpers and Deaf VVers – trying to claim an abandoned warehouse space as their own.

“I think there was the underlying message of essentially what’s happening out there in society today,” he says about the message at the heart of Here/Not Here.

“There’s a lot of closures that are affecting different communities. For example, deaf clubs are closing. You have leisure centres and youth clubs and then the rates and prices of land goes up and people can’t afford to go to those places. So that’s very much the underlying message in the film.

Bim goes on to add that people are appreciating other communities and space more during lockdown. “You know, they have more time on their hands. Maybe they’re speaking to people they wouldn’t normally speak to,” he explains. “With [all these characters in] that space, we wanted to move on from seeing these barriers between different communities, we wanted to see it as a collaboration between people who wouldn’t normally have collaborated and actually see that it’s for the benefit of themselves.”

One of the main collaborations in the piece is deaf and hearing performers working together, with the principal cast featuring Nadeem Islam, Ryan Pendley, Catrina Nisbett, and Theophillus ‘Godson’ Oloyade.

“To be fair, I didn’t want to change too many of the sort of authentic issues that might have been in place, because that was the whole point of the story – the actual organic process and how they would have solved those communication issues,” Bim says, when asked if there were any barriers between hearing and deaf actors they had to overcome on set.

“I would say that certainly through rehearsal, I didn’t push any sort of fake interactions too much,” he adds. “I really wanted to hold off on that aspect of things closer to the shoot, so that we can bring across more of that authenticity of that dynamic between the performers. I think that worked really well.”

After all, Here/Not Here is about communication, with Bim talking about the three groups finding and inspiring “a common language through movement to communicate, collaborate and come together”.

“So each of them has their own distinct, let’s say language, as it were, as a form of communication,” Bim explains. “I really wanted to show with the film that each of those aspects have their own way of communicating that people will understand.

“I think, really, I wanted to use all those different forms, under different styles of communication and bring that kind of common language.”

As different communities came together in front of the camera, so too did those behind them. Our conversation soon moves on to Bim’s interview with The Limping Chicken from 2015, when he told us about a ‘constant drive’ to prove himself as a deaf filmmaker.

Now, after wrapping up on Here/Not Here, the director says with this production in particular, he was seen as equal. “So what I was bringing as a direct result was really appreciated, whereas before I felt there could be some challenges with that.

“This time, both Andrew and Jonzi, as a writer, they both really believed in me, which really, in turn, give me the motivation and confidence to go forward,” he continues. “So, what was really nice is that we were all very much on the same page, and we all had the same vision for this film.”

Bim goes on to tell me about him and Jonzi’s similar experiences “in terms of expression and things experienced”, and producer Andrew Gillman’s “extensive knowledge of film” and love for storytelling, saying that the team didn’t treat him any different.

“That was what I wanted really all along. Ideally was to be given free rein and this was just really important to me,” he says. “I didn’t want to be treated differently. I didn’t want to be seen differently or that I could achieve lesser. I think that rubbed off really well on everybody else, especially the performers.

“So we have a deaf and hearing ensemble, and neither of them are actually professional actors, so you can imagine how intimidating that can be for the cast. So with that support from production with myself, that then had a knock on effect with the performers.

“They could see I was being supported equally and then they would mutually support each other equally too. So, as a whole team I think it was a real positive energy amongst us all in terms of being equals,” he concludes.

Photos by Carlton Dixon.

Here/Not Here is available to watch online for free from 8:30am (BST) on BSL Zone, with a documentary exploring the making of the film, Look Here/Not Here being released a week after on 18 May.

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By Liam O’Dell. Liam is a mildly deaf freelance journalist and blogger from Bedfordshire. He wears bilateral hearing aids and can be found talking about disability, theatre, politics and more on Twitter and on his website.