SOMERS TOWN
Year: 2008
UK: Optimum Releasing
Cast: Thomas Turgoose, Kate Dickie, Piotr Jagiello, Ireneusz Czop, Perry Benson, Ben Porter, Jamie Belman, Mariusz Gajewski, Tomasz Kamola, Nojaech Magenyuski, Sebastian Palka, Anna Jenson, Trevor Cooper, Eddy Hasson, Sebastian Twacz, Piotr Juszczyk, Warren Hutton, Tomasz Zietkiewicz, Richard Almond, Andrzet Strebelski, Ryan Ford, Levi Hayes, Risade Campbell, Huggy Leaver
Director: Shane Meadows
Country: UK
UK: 72 mins
UK Certificate: 12A contains one use of strong language, moderate sex references and violence
UK Release Date: 22 August 2008
UK DVD Release Date: 12 January 2009
Synopsis
Tommo (Thomas Turgoose), just turned sixteen and released from social care, runs away to London from a lonely, difficult life in the Midlands. Marek (Piotr Jagiello), a Polish immigrant, lives with his father, who drinks with his friends most evenings after working on a construction site. Marek is a keen photographer, quiet and sensitive - he is not comfortable in his father's world.
Both struggle to make sense of their new world and a chance meeting in Somers Town, London, leads the two to form an unexpected partnership. Unknown to his father, Marek begins hiding Tommo in his flat and the two boys begin to earn money from an entrepreneurial and eccentric neighbour, Graham. Maria, the French waitress at their local cafe, already a photographic muse for Marek, now becomes more of an obsession for the two boys and the centre of all their attention.
When Maria suddenly leaves their lives, the two boys are bereft. Tommo and Marek seek escape through an evening of drunken abandon, but are discovered by Marek's father, who throws Tommo out and all seems lost.
Shot in black and white in contemporary central London, SOMERS TOWN went into production in September 2007 and shows that in alienating urban environments and fractured family relationships, redemption is found through friendship.
SOMERS TOWN is directed by BAFTA award-winning Shane Meadows and stars Thomas Turgoose (THIS IS ENGLAND), Kate Dickie (RED ROAD), Perry Benson (SCRUM, SID & NANCY), Elisa Lasowski (EASTERN PROMISES), with debut English film performances by Piotr Jagiello and Ireneusz Czop. SOMERS TOWN is produced by Barnaby Spurrier and written by Paul Fraser. All original music composed and performed by Gavin Clarke.
DVD EXTRAS
Interviews with Shane Meadows, Thomas Turgoose, Piotr Jagiello and Perry Benson / Shane Meadows Master class at Tribeca Film Festival / TV Spots / Trailer / HOH subtitles