‘By Any Other Name’ is a short film written and directed by Bradford’s Daniel Deville which has already won an astonishing 21 awards on the independent circuit. Awards include Grand Prix: Best Screenplay at OSCAR qualifying Flickers Road Island, Best of Fest at New Renaissance Film festival, Best Director & Short Film at London Director Awards and Best British Short at Lowestoft Film Festival. The movie, which was made in association with Academy Award® winning Slick Films, tells the tale of a young girl lost to, and ensnared in, the seedy underbelly of London’s sex trade. The film was also nominated for Best Short Film at British Short Film awards.
The film was inspired by an experience at the Burning Man festival in Nevada in 2016 when Deville began talking to someone who, like him, had lost his mother at an early age. He learned of the woman’s younger years, of being homeless and forced into prostitution by an older man. He was inspired by how calmly, and truthfully, she retold the story. “I saw freedom in her,” Daniel has explained. “Against all odds she had held onto her true self. She had retained a love; a love for herself, and love for how she had fought the odds and made it through!”
After a period of research and the discovery of similar stories in the UK, he took the essence of those moments shared at Burning Man and ‘By Any Other Name’ was born.
Daniel has proven himself a tenacious filmmaker who has very much risen above the limitations of his humble beginnings in Bradford. He started filming things, at just 12 years old, after chronic insomnia meant he watched several movies a night thus developing a love for the art form. He began to study the works of cinematic pioneers, which in turn drove him to break out of his locale and make a mark on the wider world. His dreams began to become reality when he earned a place at the prestigious Northern Film School in Leeds and by the time he was in his thirties, he began making his movies whilst embracing his identity as a BIPOC filmmaker with Borderline Personality and Bipolar disorders supported throughout by his loving assistance dog, Brego.
In previous shorts he has written and directed, such as ‘Reverse Everything’ and ‘Snare’, Deville has solidified his unique directing style and proven his ability to bring a story to life; but, with ‘By Any Other Name’ he dives deeper into character contracts, how they interact with each other and uniquely draws the audience along with him to that they become part of the renewal too. This short allows him to do that brilliantly, whilst keeping an authentic throughline that makes it all the more real and visceral to watch.
At 24 minutes long, ‘By Any Other Name’ is a powerful and succinct work which tells the tale of a working-class Northern mother who is fighting against the odds to bring her vulnerable sister home. The urgent mission to find her missing sibling starts after an unexpected phone call which sets the desperate quest in motion and, as the story unfolds, many questions are posed that need answers,about chance encounters, fighting spirit, happiness and the blossoming of talent against the odds.
‘By Any Other Name’ is another standout short from Daniel Deville as his talent ensures his dream to make feature films for the silver screen becomes ever more a reality.
Connect with By Any Other Name
Leave a Reply