Special Screening of the prison drama Starred Up and Q&A with Screenwriter Jonathan Asser at the Phoenix Picturehouse
Starred up blog written by Barbara Nickl
We were very pleased to be invited to the special screening of David MacKenzie´s new critically acclaimed prison drama Starred Up, including a Q&A session with its screenwriter Jonathan Asser.
Q&A Time
After the screening of the very tense and emotional film – with stunning performances from Jack O´Connell and Ben Mendelsohn as Eric and his father Neville – Asser was open to questions from the audience.
He was accompanied by Leon Brown who he introduced as `One of the baddest people in the baddest prison in the UK’. Asser and Brown have worked together in Jonathan´s SVI (Shame/Violence Intervention) program in Wandsworth Prison in London – Jonathan as the therapist and Leon as the violent inmate.
The audience was mostly interested in hearing about their SVI discussion group, which is replicated in the film and run by Oliver (Rupert Friend) – a character that is obviously based on Asser himself, even though he admits that he also integrated parts of himself in Eric and Nev.
Throughout the film it becomes very clear that Jonathan was constantly struggling with the authorities to keep the group running. In real life his group was shut down after 12 years of success (the violence rate sunk to around 50% in Wandsworth, according to Leon). “I think it was because I shamed the prison system by walking around with the most violent men who usually could only be unlocked by two or more trained officers. I wasn’t trained or anything like that”, says Asser, but the group members respected and supported him and he developed – especially with Leon – a special bond. They still seem to be good friends and have a deep connection with each other.
It is a natural connection that Asser has with his protégés. He considers himself a traumatized and violent person as well who can´t cope with relationships outside of a total institution. Working in a prison and especially `in the heat of the moment´ when violence is about to break out, is what makes him feel calm and relaxed. Therefore he also spent a lot of time on the shoot, working closely with MacKenzie and the actors. You can really feel that all the scenes have been shot in the order of the film – a technique to keep the tension and the emotion amongst the actors. “Most of it was improvisation anyway – the screenplay only gave a certain structure for the emotional arch”, says Asser.
Besides being an intense father-son drama, Starred Up also greatly criticizes the prison system. It shows how the authorities deal with violent inmates in the conventional way of locking them up, instead of focusing on the roots of this violence. Asser’s approach is to work through the participants’ personal sense of shame. In his opinion it’s the feeling of shame that mostly triggers these overreactions that cause violence. His group provides a space for the participants ‘to interact and to look each other in the eyes’. Usually “it is all about keeping a certain façade”, says Leon. But his experience was that Asser’s group helped to let this façade down and to avoid violent reactions. And still, it got shut down. But since the release and the great success of `Starred Up´, a public discussion of prison policy and the treatment of especially violent inmates has taken off. “More people are getting to know about my work and its importance for the people. They are interested in it. Hopefully I can start again!” But will he carry on with screenwriting? “I love screenwriting and it might happen again. I’m working on two other scripts at the moment. One of them is a boxing drama which is ready to go. But really, my heart is with my SVI work in the prisons!”
Starred Up is a great example of the power of a film to trigger public discussion and to hopefully make a change in the world. It is almost a promotion film – but without being too obvious. Overall it is a great fiction drama based on real-life events with great actors, a great director and a very talented screenwriter.
We thank the Phoenix Picturehouse for hosting such a great event and wish Jonathan as much luck and success as he needs to continue his SVI work. We also look forward to seeing his next film on the big screen soon.