Bankside films take on worldwide sales of Nadia Fall’s debut feature film Brides

The film stars newcomer Ebada Hassan and Safiyya Ingar (Layla, The Witcher) as two teenage girls in 2015, in search of freedom, friendship and belonging, who run away from their troubled lives in a seaside town with a misguided plan of travelling to Syria. On their road trip, we learn about the lives they are leaving behind, as they come to understand the reality of where they are headed. The duo were cast after an extensive open casting process led by casting director Shaheen Baig (Scrapper, After Love). 

The film is a UK/Italian co-production and is supported by the BFI and Ffilm Cymru Wales, both awarding National Lottery funding, and Welsh Government via Creative Wales, Great Point Media, the Italian Ministry of Culture Minority Co-production Fund, Friuli Venezia Giuila Audiovisual regional fund and Rai Cinema with Bankside handling international sales. It was developed with the BFI and won the Breaking Through the Lens Action Grant in 2023, sponsored by Chopard. 

Oscar-nominated producer Nicky Bentham (The Duke, The After) of London based Neon Films is producing alongside Marica Stocchi (The Macaluso Sisters, Reading Lolita in Tehran) of Rome based Rosamont. Catryn Ramasut and Alice Lusher of Cardiff based ie ie productions (LOLA, American Interior) are co-producers. Executive Producers include Stephen Kelliher and Sophie Green for Bankside Films, Emma Duffy and Lizzie Francke for the BFI, Kiah Simpson for Ffilm Cymru Wales, Cassidy Uggla, Matt Murphie, Sawsan Asfari and Susan Simnett. 

Fall (whose screen work includes No Masks for Sky Arts, Bush for Film4, and Alan Bennett’s Talking Heads for BBC1) is the CEO and artistic director of Theatre Royal Stratford East, and was a former associate artist at the National Theatre, working for many years with acclaimed theatre and film director, Sir Nicholas Hytner. Her works include Home (also as writer), Chewing Gum Dreams (created by Michaela Coel) and Three Sisters (in a new version at the National by Inua Ellams). In 2020, Fall was named as a Sky Arts Ambassador and in 2023 she was included as a Screen Star of Tomorrow.

Fall says: “With Brides I wanted to evoke both the thrills and anguish of adolescence: from the electricity of first love, die-hard friendships, and euphoric risk-taking to heartache, often crippling embarrassment and isolation. Our girls are outsiders and are desperate to find somewhere to belong. As we all grapple with the horror of war and conflict on a world stage, the pain-on-loop on social media, I hope that this story will resonate deeply. Shooting my first feature in three different countries was an incredible adventure and I couldn’t have imagined a more wonderful cast and crew on the journey. I absolutely can’t wait to share our story.”

Brides was lensed by Clarissa Cappellani (Misericordia, The Macaluso Sisters), with casting by Shaheen Baig (Scrapper, After Love), design from Gemma Randall (The Sixth Commandment, Hollington Drive), costume design by Zoë Howerska (The Change, We Hunt Together). Editor is Fiona DeSouza (Great Expectations, Locked In) and composer is Alex Baranowski (The Kitchen, True Things).