Tony Kaye, British director of “American History X” and “Detachment”, directed “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?” , a five-minute short film that blends documentary with reality drama and takes place amid giant monster sculptures installed in Leicester, England.
Hiu Man Chan, a film entrepreneur and academic in creative industries at De Montfort University, is producing. The project will pair Kaye with emerging actors and filmmakers from across the university and Leicester’s wider creative landscape, and the production is taking an experimental, collaborative route.
The story will take shape around the chosen cast and participants, capturing chance encounters and real human experiences on camera as the film asks whether people can understand and love each other despite their differences. Shooting will start from Friday. Louis Lyngjaerde (“Vipers”) is the cinematographer.
The setting of the short film will be taken from Leicester Monsters, a downtown program run by BID Leicester, in which life-size creatures are placed on the city’s streets and public spaces to inspire visitors to explore the centre. Bristol-based Designs in Air installed the monsters.
“Forty years ago, I made an advertisement for solid fuel in which a dog, a cat and a mouse kissed each other to the music of ‘Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow’ in front of a real coal fire. I have never forgotten that image,” Kaye said. “Now, with the Leicester Monsters film, I find myself returning to the same idea. Perhaps the universe is the real coal fire, and we are all animals gathered around it, trying to love each other. The question is as simple as it is impossible: How can we all live together forever?”
Leicester is often described as one of the most diverse cities in the UK. The film will use that mix, with giant creatures appearing around the city as a surreal backdrop, to examine the tension between difference and belonging, and between freedom and commitment.
“I’m passionate about packaging unique projects like this to capture the most important human emotion – love – in storytelling, as well as challenging traditional filmmaking. I look forward to leading this creative journey with Tony, one of Britain’s greatest talents, and the city of Leicester,” said Chan.
Kaye’s first feature film, 1998’s “American History X,” dealt with racism and liberation and earned Edward Norton an Oscar nomination for best actor. His 2011 film “Detachment” starring Adrien Brody won two awards at the Deauville American Film Festival – the Critics Award and the Revelation Prize – and the Best Artistic Contribution Award at the Tokyo International Film Festival. He also directed the 2006 documentary “Lake of Fire”.
The release of “American History X” was full of difficulties. Kaye had a falling out with New Line Cinema and Norton over editing, and the version that reached theaters, which Norton had a hand in cutting, ran longer than Kaye’s original 95-minute cut. Kaye spent approximately $100,000 on dozens of Hollywood commercials, Diversity Some of them attacked Norton and the studio. The Directors Guild of America rejected his request to replace his directing credits with pseudonyms, one of them being “Humpty Dumpty.” Kaye later sued Guild and New Line for $200 million, a case that was dismissed in 2000.
Kaye returned to the saga in “Humpty Dumpty The film, which also stars Marlon Brando, had its world premiere in the Spotlight Documentary section of this year’s Tribeca Festival.
In addition to features, Kaye also made a reputation in music videos and commercials. His advertising work spans Nike’s “Kick It”, Volvo’s “Twister”, Dunlop’s “Tested for the Unexpected”, intercity campaigns for British Rail and the “Fury Friends” spot for Solid Fuel.