Flickerman & The Ivory Skinned Woman

Adam Suschitzky shot this short film for me on 35mm back in 2001 in a tiny space above The Union Rooms in central Newcastle. The script was written with poet and novelist Jacob Polley. The wonderful production design was created by Sarah Beaman and costumes and make up are by Imogen Cloet, who spent days sandpapering those pajamas to get the look we wanted . Lead actor James Ramsay - brother of filmmaker Lynne Ramsay - had just done a bit part in Scorsese’s Gangs Of New York (he was hung by Daniel Day Lewis) and plays opposite Joy Sanders, who stepped into those red shoes two days before the shoot after Brid Brennan dropped out. The score was recorded in Helsinki with accordion-wrestler Kimmo Pohjonen who got me drunk for three days straight before taking me to the studio. All I could say was ‘Yes, Kimmo. That sounds great…”