WHY THIS STORY? 

We live near a camp similar to the one we will portray in the film. We met the men who lived there (before they were moved on) and got to speak to them at length - learning of their hopes, fears and why they came over to London to live in such harsh conditions. They want a better life for their families...like anyone, anywhere else, ever. But what they are willing to sacrifice is exceptional.

The Roma story in media is often one-sided and negatively portrayed – always seen as a ‘problem’ or ‘issue’. These portrayals ignore the humanity, resilience, and internal struggles of strong people with a long history of being displaced, spat upon and blamed.

Here are some striking facts:

• There are approximately 12 million Roma worldwide.
  
• Romanian enslavement of Roma ended in 1860 after 500 years
  
• An estimated 2 million Romani died in concentration camps and through other means of extermination during World War II.
  
• As recently as the 1980s, Roma women in Czechoslovakia were forced to undergo sterilisation to limit the Romani population.
  
• In the past year, about 10,000 Roma have been expelled from France after their camps were destroyed.
  
• Studies show that Roma are the most despised ethnic minority in Europe
  

It's very rare that you see a Romani story featuring a working class hero protagonist such as Nicu, especially in the UK and mainland Europe where prejudice against Romani people is still high. We want to go beyond the scaremongering headlines and use narrative to build cultural bridges.

Ghost stories feature in all cultures and languages, and they have  the power to transcend barriers. Our hope is that our film will entertain, put you on edge and open a window of understanding.

Working within the community, we are going to make a compelling and thought-provoking ghost story which highlights the Romani people's hard working culture but also reveals some of their traditions.

We have worked with many Roma organisations, activists and creatives in the development of the story.

THE CAMP

Hidden camps like the one featured in Muló are set up often by men who have left families back in Romania or Bulgaria to seek work elsewhere. The cost of even basic private rented accommodation would eat significantly into their small earnings and ability to support their struggling families and as such they opt to bear the hardship of sleeping rough.

When you enter the camp, the versatile ingenuity and perseverance demonstrated in the construction of their temporary homes is astonishing. Rubbish and found items are cleverly re-purposed. The makeshift cabins are waterproofed, adorned with touches of home and surprisingly habitable. Recently, the men we met were cleared from their camp in northeast London. Exploring the remains, we found scallop shells (considered good luck), talismans and gifts for those at home: salvaged children's toys and women's clothes. All these things have informed the story and mystery of Muló.

At night the place is extremely dark, lit only by streetlights cutting shapes through the trees or passing headlights of a car happens to come down the slip road. This uneasiness, this eerie feel is what we want to resonate throughout the film.

LEAD ACTOR

LOOK & FEEL

Although our story is contemporary, we intend it to have a timeless feel. After many tests, we decided that shooting in black and white will emphasise the sense of isolation and confinement in our characters' lives. The industrial area the men lived in has a monochrome feel with similar textures overlapping one another. It also heightens the sense of urban 'forgottenness'. We'd like to enhance this with our cinematography - allowing us to play with darkness and shadow within our frames.  

Inspiration for this film comes from many places but here are a few key works we love; Whistle and I'll Come to You, 1968 The Classic BBC British Ghost Story. Dir by Jonathan Miller. Hour of the Wolf, 1968 Dir by Ingmar Bergman. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, 1948 Dir by John Huston. Jacobs Ladder, 1990 Dir by Adrian Lyne. Night of the Hunter, 1955 Dir Charles Laughton

This will be a mixed Romanian, Romani, and English language film with English subtitles owing to the authenticity of our character's lives.

WHO WE ARE

Director Linda Cairns, Producer Zakiya Petty and Cinematographer Nick Cooke are a film-making partnership from London. They're filmmakers who love culture, folklore, ghost stories and people. Believing that life is stranger than it seems and that reality is subjective.

Linda Cairns is a dynamic and intuitive filmmaker and documentarian, having worked on films about mental health in the UK, Medecin Sans Frontieres work in Africa, and the HIV charity The Food Chain.

Zakiya Petty's varied career has seen her run productions on award-winning short films and high-profile corporate productions for clients such as Vodafone, Marks & Spencers, Swim4Life and Lloyds Banking Group.

Nick Cooke’s work on the hugely successful British short film, Mass of Men, led it to win the Gold Leopard at Locarno Film Festival and Best Camera at Berlin Interfilm Festival amongst many other festival accolades. His skillfulness on other projects has won awards at the Irish Film and Television Awards, Student Oscars and many others. His first feature as Cinematographer is in competition at the 63rd San Sebastian Film Festival.

WE ARE READY TO MAKE

A CAPTIVATING BRITISH FILM

Muló was selected for Film London's Eastern Edge Film Fund mentoring process  in 2015 which gave us the creative momentum to develop the script and the self belief to pitch effectively. Without their help Muló wouldn't have the potential it has today… to be one of the most uniquely compelling  UK films of the moment. 

We have...

• a fantastic, compelling script.
  
• our lead actor.
  
• key members of our production team.
  
• locations.
  
• passion!
  
• a UNIQUE vision for this film!

Now we just need your help to make it!

 

INCENTIVES 

As our backer, you will get exclusive updates from the road, all contributors will be invited to a password protected blog which will update you of the films progress in a fun and entertaining way. You could also be invited to an awesome screening in London, and, of course, be part of this dream. We’ve also got pretty unusual and surprising rewards on offer such as...

WHY YOUR DONATION MATTERS

No matter how big or small, your donation will help bring this project to life and we'd like to invite you on a journey of bringing this film to life -  from pre-production to our first film screenings and festivals.

Much of our camera equipment donated but to make the film a reality, we will need to raise £10,570 which will cover shooting with 25 cast and crew over six days in fairly difficult locations...at night...sometimes on water. The funds raised will help us create an authentic, isolated, and uneasy world.

LOCATION

We have scouted locations near London’s Lea River and North Circular motorway. We will need to pay for these locations – the canal, the wooded area for the camp, various private areas. As it is nearing wintertime, we will need to provide warm shelter for our cast and crew between takes, so we will be hiring nearby spaces and providing heaters. Generators are needed to provide power to the fairly remote locations we are utilising.

SET BUILD

The majority of our film takes place in a makeshift camp. This is the world we're looking to recreate . The men have since been evicted and the camp has been cleared, but  and is something we will build.

We will build several cabins like the ones above to work for filming purposes. They'll need to have floating walls which can be removed to get our camera in the right place to tell the story. At one point a cabin is destroyed and we'll require breakaway walls in order for this to be safe for us to film. They'll also need to be designed so we can light them naturally, these are generally very dark spaces in real life.

CAST AND CREW

We are planning to engage the Roma community as actors, translators, and set builders on this project. While many of our crew will waive their fee to make this film, the Roma people we will work with often go for days without work and when they do work it's may be dangerous and low paid. We have the opportunity to bring this aspect of life in London to film but also pay fairly for their services.

Now a fed crew is a happy crew. We want to ensure they are kept fed, watered, tea/coffee’d throughout our tricky night shoots in the cold.

PROSTETHICS, MAKEUP, WARDROBE

The film features a deteriorating, infected foot, a dead body, and a fearsome ghost. We will need prosthetics, specialized makeup and materials to give them maximum impact and realism on screen.

OTHER KEYS THINGS...

Although much of our kit and other pricey items have been offered in kind; there are costs which cannot be avoided such as: 

• Hard drives for footage storage
• Transportation for crew/cast and vehicle hire
• Muló, Visual Effects (ghost at the centre of our film)
• Various props

 

What if you can't give money?...

Even if you can't donate any money you can donate other invaluable things:

• Time
• Talent
• Social Media Shares & marketing skills
• Props & Production Design Material
• Food
• Vehicles

                                             PLEASE CONTACT US!

MASSIVE THANK YOU!!!!!

We'd love to hear your thoughts and questions. Please contact us via www.mulofilm.co.uk,  TWITTER and FACEBOOK. Following, commenting, SHARING(!) will help us create this wonderful, relevant film and get it seen by the audience it deserves.