Full picture and sound post production by halo.
A London schoolgirl and tireless martial-artist-in-training, Ria Khan is determined to become a world-renowned stunt woman. She’s crushed when her big sister, Lena, drops out of art school, starts dating Salim — the charming, wealthy son of the prominent Shah family. The wickedly funny, cinematically exuberant debut feature of Nida Manzoor (creator of We Are Lady Parts), Polite Society is an Austenesque tale of two sisters (one in wedding shackles) by way of a loving, anarchic mashup of genres (action comedy, heist, martial arts, Bollywood, social horror). Moreover, it’s an ingenious refashioning of British diasporic storytelling. Newcomer and force of nature Priya Kansara leads an amazing cast, including Ritu Arya as Lena and Nimra Bucha as the nefarious Shah matriarch.
Director & Screenwriter: Nida Manzoor
Producers: Tim Bevan | John Pocock | Olivier Kaempfer | Eric Felner
Cinematographer: Ashley Connor
Editor: Robbie Morrison
John Pocock said… “Working at halo over the past few years has been an absolute pleasure. Having worked across film and TV it is so reassuring to know that they have a forensic approach to quality. Marie, on the film side knows her craft like no other – she has her eye across everything and takes a real interest in the project – it is because of her that our current film looks and sounds so great. Working with Karen on the TV slate is fantastic – she is so calm and always across everything, making the edit a much less rocky process.
The sound department is exemplary – and know that clients come here just for their sound department – whether on a Hollywood feature or a smaller scale comedy – the final sound is incredible. The grade department are artists – and having been to many other suites over the years will now always come back to halo. Top work. Thank you.”
Re-recording Mixers: Simon Hill & Tushar Manek
Supervising Sound Editor: Jay Price
Sound Effects Editor: Dario Swade
Dialogue & ADR Editors: Adam Johnson & Maggy Apodaca
Mix Technician: George Elliott & Declan Ilett
Colourist: Duncan Russell
Flame Artists: Tom Young & Ben McIlveen
Grade Assist: Sumit Malhotra
DI Producer: Marie Valentino
DI Coordinator: Oscar Hayhow-Khan
Duncan Russell said… “This movie is a celebration. It celebrates teenage passion, sorority, martial arts movies and South Asian heritage. My job was to maximise that feeling through the colours. So we went as big as we could without having it feel overcooked. Ashley the DoP provided a rock solid and beautiful base for me to embellish. The result is a riot of peacock blues, deep scarlet reds and vibrant pistachio greens. It’s the sort of project you dream of.”
Simon Hill said… “This was one of those films where we just threw fun sounds in from the first temp mix to see what stuck and what wouldn’t. Kept it all. And even threw more fun in during the final. It helps that the sound team were a lovely bunch of creative brains, but having a director so open to ideas and complimentary of us during the process just makes our time together that much more enjoyable. Nida & co did a sterling job making Polite Society, and I am grateful to be along for the ride.”
Polite Society premiered at Sundance on 21st January and will be released in UK cinemas on 7 April.