Theresa May called for a
Brexit festival – and now 20 directors have responded. The results, featuring kickboxers and an armed janitor, add up to an extraordinary snapshot of Britain
A woman repeatedly punches David Cameron in the head, or at least an effigy of him. In slow motion, its smiling features distort under her blows. Elsewhere, a homeless man is slowly sinking into the pavement outside a corporate office block. A disturbed janitor with a headful of rightwing propaganda brings a shotgun to his school. Volunteers dispense care and supplies at a foodbank in a coastal town. A Bolivian cleaner shouts to the oblivious office workers around her: “Am I invisible?”
These are probably not the images of modern
Britain that
Theresa May had in mind when she announced a celebratory Festival of Brexit back in late 2018, but as a state-of-the-nation snapshot, they speak volumes. They are all from The Uncertain Kingdom, an anthology of 20 short films made last year. The films vary widely in subject and tone, from surreal
comedy to hand-sketched animation. But recurring themes emerge: xenophobia, loneliness, identity, class and poverty. The overall mood could not be described as festive – apprehensive, more like. Is this really who we are? Or should that be, who we were? Thanks to Covid-19, The Uncertain Kingdom already has a time-capsule quality to it.