Trapping filmmakers and rapper Abra Cadabra to take ‘grim reality’ of county lines drugs to parliament
It takes just minutes for the scenes to turn grim: a dirty trap house, a drug user injecting scabbed feet, a tiny baby crawling amid the filth.
This is Trapping, a new British film starring MOBO-winning drill rapper Abra Cadabra and produced by filmmakers and grime pioneers Femi Oyeniran and Nicky “Slimting” Walker.
Later this evening, they take the story to parliament for a discussion about the bleak reality of the UK’s county lines problem, where vulnerable adults and children as young as six, according to the Children’s Society, are recruited to move and supply drugs.
While the portrayal of drug dealing often shown on screen has long drawn criticism for glamourising the lifestyle, the same cannot be said for Trapping. Rather than focusing on the “girls, the money, the cars”, as writer and director Penny Woolcock tells Sky News, it delves into the world of “going county” and those on the frontline, also showing the hopelessness of the addicts they feed.
Louis Ede plays main character Daz. Pic: Alice Dunhill
Raised on the Broadwater Farm estate in Tottenham, Abra Cadabra, real name Aaron Philips, told Sky News at the film’s premiere that he drew on his personal experiences to play county lines gang leader Magic.
“It’s reality,” he said. “It’s what some of the kids in London go through growing up. It’s good to show what’s really going on… I’ve seen a couple of my friends go through stuff like that. It hit home.”
Louis Ede, who plays main character Daz, a young boy wanting to earn some money to help his struggling mum, is now 20 but had just turned 18 when filming started.
“I learnt a lot of things I didn’t know before. I’ve been around people who have been in that environment – that’s why, in a way, it was kind of easy for me to portray the character because I could channel the things I’ve experienced from my past. However, saying that, I didn’t know how gritty that lifestyle actually is until I shot the film.”
‘This is not just a black problem – it’s a white problem, too’
Nicky ‘Slimting’ Walker and Femi Oyeniran at the premiere of Trapping
For the film’s stars and creators, taking the debate to parliament is a big deal. Oyeniran and Abra Cadabra will be part of a panel supported by campaigner and chief executive of Enact Equality L’myah Sherae; author and activist Ben Lindsay, founder of Power The Fight; filmmaker and youth coach Amani Simpson; and Labour MP for Streatham Bell Ribeiro-Addy.
They are calling on the government to launch a creative grants scheme to help young people in need, taking stats from the Children’s Society stating that 46,000 children in England – and likely many more unknown – are thought to be involved in gangs, with 4,000 teenagers being criminally exploited in London alone.
They say the situation has been made worse by the recent rise in children reported missing from school and increasing child poverty.
Oyeniran, who started his career starring in the cult classic Kidulthood and went on to produce films including It’s A lot, The Intent and The 12, says widening the debate is as important as the film itself.
“[Trapping] gives a rounded perspective of drug dealing,” he says. “Sometimes you look at films about drugs and it’s either a critique of drug use, or it’s about drug dealers. This shows the real side, it humanises the drug users, and also it shows that it’s beyond just a working class thing, it’s also a middle class thing. And it’s not just a black problem, it’s a white problem, too.”
Too often, in the media and with politicians as well as in film and TV, the focus is on gangs, he says. “It’s titillating, the idea of a gang is scary, and all of that stuff. But let’s talk about the middle-class people that live in counties that consume drugs… who are these drugs being sold to?”
Abra Cadabra also recorded the soundtrack for the film, and performed at the premiere in London
Read more on Sky News:
Guns and swords seized in county lines crackdown
Organised crime group targeted in ‘largest single operation’ to close down county lines
Walker, his filmmaking partner, says he hopes children and young people watching the film will be put off the lifestyle often sold to them. “There’s only one thing that happens to you when you’re a drug dealer – you end up going to jail for a very long time. Or, you end up dead.
“A film like Trapping will show you the dark side. It’s not glamourising, to be the next Pablo Escobar. It’s not showing you about the flashy clothes and all these things… it’s showing that you’re in this sh*tty, horrible flat, that it smells, and you’re around dirty people.”
‘This is about protecting children’
Woolcock said she wanted to make something authentic, that young people vulnerable to the lifestyle could relate to. You have kids that queue up [to sell drugs] because they think it’s going to be great. We wanted to show that, that’s truthful.”
Woolcock is calling on MPs to tackle the problem. “Youth service has been cut to shreds, there’s virtually no youth provision. Poverty and inequality have increased and those are the underlying causes, why people want to get into this.
“A kid in a certain neighbourhood will think there are three options: you are either a drug dealer, a footballer or a rapper, and that is it.”
“Politicians have a responsibility to end this issue,” says Ms Sherae. “In order to protect the next generation, they have to do more and introduce laws to really think about prevention rather than a hard line on drug use. If you think about this as a safeguarding issue, this is about protecting children.”
The Trapping movie panel discussion takes place this evening, with the film released on Friday on The Drop, a new streaming platform which aims to serve minority and underrepresented audiences and promote independent and upcoming British talent, supported by the British Film Institute and launched by Oyeniran and Walker’s Fan Studios.
The creator of an AI actress has told Sky News that synthetic performers will get more actors working, rather than steal jobs.
AI production studio Particle6 has ruffled feathers in Hollywood by unveiling Tilly Norwood – a 20-something actress created by artificial intelligence.
Speaking to Sky News’ Dominic Waghorn, actor and comedian Eline Van der Velden – who founded Particle6 – insisted Norwood is “not meant to take jobs in the traditional film”.
AI entertainment is “developing as a completely separate genre”, she said, adding: “And that’s where Tilly is meant to stay. She’s meant to stay in the AI genre and be a star in that.”
“I don’t want her to take real actors’ jobs,” she continued. “I wanted to have her own creative path.”
Norwood has been labelled “really, really scary” by Mary Poppins Returns star Emily Blunt, while the US actors’ union SAG-AFTRA said in a statement: “Tilly Norwood is not an actor, it’s a character generated by a computer program that was trained on the work of countless professional performers – without permission or compensation.”
Responding to the criticism, Ms Van der Velden argued that Hollywood is “going to have to learn how to work with [AI] going forward”.
“We can’t stop it,” she said. “If we put our head in the sand, then our jobs will be gone. However, instead, if we learn how to use these tools, if we use it going forward, especially in Britain, we can be that creative powerhouse.”
Eline Van der Velden said she wanted the character to ‘have her own creative path’
Read more:
How AI music is fooling most of us
Tom Hollander ‘not scared’ of AI star
Ms Van der Velden said her studio has already helped a number of projects that were struggling due to budget constraints.
“Some productions get stuck, not able to find the last 30% of their budget, and so they don’t go into production,” she said. “Now with AI, by replacing some of the shots […] we can actually get that production going and working. So as a result, we get more jobs, we get more actors working, so that’s all really, really positive news.”
Entertainment
Sally Rooney tells court new books may not be published in UK due to Palestine Action ban
Irish author Sally Rooney has told the High Court she may not be able to publish new books in the UK, and may have to withdraw previous titles from sale, because of the ban on Palestine Action.
The group’s co-founder Huda Ammori is taking legal action against the Home Office over the decision to proscribe Palestine Action under anti-terror laws in July.
The ban made being a member of, or supporting, Palestine Action a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison.
Rooney was in August warned that she risked committing a terrorist offence after saying she would donate earnings from her books, and the TV adaptations of Normal People and Conversations With Friends, to support Palestine Action.
In a witness statement made public on Thursday, Rooney said the producer of the BBC dramas said they had been advised that they could not send money to her agent if the funds could be used to fund the group, as that would be a crime under anti-terror laws.
Rooney added that it was “unclear” whether any UK company can pay her, stating that if she is prevented from profiting from her work, her income would be “enormously restricted”.
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Why was Palestine Action proscribed?
She added: “If I were to write another screenplay, television show or similar creative work, I would not be able to have it produced or distributed by a company based in England and Wales without, expressly or tacitly, accepting that I would not be paid.”
Rooney described how the publication of her books is based on royalties on sales, and that non-payment of royalties would mean she can terminate her contract.
“If, therefore, Faber and Faber Limited are legally prohibited from paying me the royalties I am owed, my existing works may have to be withdrawn from sale and would therefore no longer be available to readers in the UK,” Rooney added, saying this would be “a truly extreme incursion by the state into the realm of artistic expression”.
Rooney added that it is “almost certain” that she cannot publish or produce new work in the UK while the Palestine Action ban remains in force.
She said: “If Palestine Action is still proscribed by the time my next book is due for publication, then that book will be available to readers all over the world and in dozens of languages, but will be unavailable to readers in the United Kingdom simply because no one will be permitted to publish it, unless I am content to give it away for free.”
Sir James Eadie KC, barrister for the Home Office, said in a written submission that the ban’s aim is “stifling organisations concerned in terrorism and for members of the public to face criminal liability for joining or supporting such organisations”.
“That serves to ensure proscribed organisations are deprived of the oxygen of publicity as well as both vocal and financial support,” he continued.
The High Court hearing is due to conclude on 2 December, with a decision expected in writing at a later date.
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