PODCAST | Chiara Nicoletti interviews Derrick Borte, director of London Town, from the 2016 Alice nella Città.
FRED’s Chiara Nicoletti meets Derrick Borte, director of London Town in competitioin at the 14th edition of Alice nella Città. The film is a coming of age story set in London with the music of The Clash to be not only the soundtrack but the narrative structure of the film. Derrick Borte talks about being sixteen and being always to that part of yourself that never ceased to be an adolescent.
LONDON TOWN follows a 14 (soon to be 15) years old kid named Shay (Daniel Huttlestone) living in the suburbs of London with his Scottish father (Dougray Scott) and his precocious little sister. Shay is good in school and has learned piano at the behest of his father, who owns and operates a piano store when he’s not driving a cab to make ends meet. Shay’s free-spirited mother (Natascha McElhone) took off when the kids were very young, and Shay gets invited to stay with her for the summer, even though he has a heap of familial responsibilities due to her absence. On a trip to the city, Shay meets a young punk girl named Vivian (Nell Williams) who introduces him to the music of the Clash.. After his father gets badly injured while moving a piano and has to remain in hospital for weeks, Shay is forced to work at the store and drive the cab on his own to try to keep everything afloat. As his world starts to fall apart he finds strength in the music and his new found love to get him through.
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