They're up to no good on Mischief Night

2:24pm Wednesday 25th October 2006

The peculiar local tradition of Mischief Night is the focus of a new film based on real-life experiences of white and Asian communities in Bradford.

The film, called Mischief Night, is written and directed by Penny Woolcock who visited schools and youth groups in Bradford and Leeds and observed life in the cities' white and Asian communities.

She said the spotlight thrown on to Muslims after September 11 led her to explore the British Asian experience.

Described as an "urban fairytale", the film is about two families, one white, one Asian, who live either side of a Beeston park. Tina Crabtree lives with her unruly children, Kimberley, Tyler and Macauley, and across the park live the Khans, including Immie, his stroppy sister Sarina and cheeky brother Asif. As the clock ticks towards Mischief Night the families' worlds are about to collide in a hail of rotten eggs, flaming bags of dog dirt and the occasional bullet.

Penny said the experiences she shared with white and Asian communities in Bradford and Leeds were "colourful, inspiring and uplifting."

"One of the things I love about that part of West Yorkshire is that people are really witty and they use language in a clever, funny way," she said. "I wanted the film to reflect that, to be light without shying away from reality. Hopefully it's a silly film about serious issues."

The film stars This Life actor Ramon Tikaram but the cast largely consists of ordinary people from Leeds, including Kelli Hollis who played Tina Crabtree in Penny Woolcock's previous drama/documentary-style films set in Beeston, Tina Takes a Break and Tina Goes Shopping.

"In Beeston the park literally separates white and Asian communities," said Penny. "Kelli has lived there all her life, she was brought up on what's now the Asian side' and went to school with white and Asian kids. But today her 12-year-old daughter has no Asian kids in her class.

"People used to live together but these are scary times in which divisions are leading to terrible bloodshed. As Trevor Phillips so eloquently puts it, we are sleep-walking our way to segregation.' "But it doesn't have to be like that! Mischief Night is a night when kids from both sides of the park go out and cause mischief with eggs and flour, ringing doorbells and generally causing trouble. I wanted to use this as a way of bringing together Tina's family and the Khans.

"This film asks What would happen if people crossed the real and imagined boundaries separating them from one another?' I wanted to explore different cultures but transcend them with humour. And I wanted the place to look the way it feels - full of life and colour. It's not grim up North!"

The film is released on Friday November 3 - the day before the real Mischief Night.

It was made with the support of Yorkshire Forward and the European Union through Leeds-based regional film agency Screen Yorkshire.

e-mail: emma.clayton@bradford.newsquest.co.uk

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