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 Director PLATON THEODORIS and rappers turned actors SEFIN KING and CHUXXEN tell JODY MACGREGOR about their film, LAKEMBA.
Lakemba is a half-hour film by director Platon Theodoris set in the Sydney suburb of the same name, telling the tale of two Muslim MCs, played by real-life rappers Sef and Chux of Dream Mecca, recording music on a budget of practically nothing. Some of the film’s most fascinating scenes show the two holed up in a bedroom, one sitting at the computer with headphones on while the other raps into a microphone in the closet, performing to an audience of coat hangers. It’s exactly the way Sef and Chux worked on their own album and their easy camaraderie makes the scenes feel authentic.
“I wanted people to assume it was a documentary even though it’s completely fictional,” Theodoris explains. “The other thing was, I guess because I’ve been directing for a long time, it’s very difficult to get non-actors to learn specific lines and be genuine and authentic with it. I think what you’ve gotta do is let the non-actors bring a lot of themselves to it and I think that’s what I let the boys do. I gave them a lot of space and a lot of room to play with the characters and improvise like that and I think some of their best stuff comes out when that happens. It happens naturally, but it happens naturally within the structure and the scope of the story and the film.”
The film, like the music, was a labour of love for its creators. Sef and Chux swear that they turned down payment, asking only that Theodoris appear in their film clip wearing a leotard. Theodoris, who usually works in music videos and TV commercials, was glad of the chance to try something different and a little closer to his heart. “There’s definitely a lot of me in that film. The boys can probably tell you that.”
“If you speak to all three of us individually you’ll feel that it’s more Platon than anyone else,” Chux adds.
“I think maybe that Chux means that our film would have been a lot more violent,” Sef says.
“Had it been in our control,” Chux says, “it would have been a lot more bloodier.”
All three of them have lived in Lakemba at one time or another, so it was a personal experience for them filming in the streets they knew. Though that made it easier, Theodoris explains that bringing a film crew to Lakemba can be problematic.
“Shows like Today Tonight and A Current Affair have gone in and manipulated images of Lakemba and the people in Lakemba, so I guess a lot of residents there are really sceptical of camera crews. Even in the middle of a shoot, until people knew that we were there shooting a film which was about two guys from Lakemba – it was a drama, it had Muslim scenes, but was doing it respectfully – until they knew all that I think there was a little bit of suspicion, but generally after we explained to them what we were doing and the boys had a chat to them and I had a chat to them I think everyone was there with open arms.”
“Not open arms, just not so crossed,” laughs Sef.
LAKEMBA is screening with Satellite Queens as part of the BIFF program on Tuesday August 5 and Thursday August 7 at GoMA. Tickets available from www.stgeorgebiff.com.au and the box office.
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