In Hot Press' current Electric Picnic special, Alva White talks to Aml Ameen about his new film Yardie, directed by Idris Elba.

The film centres on the life of a young Jamaican man named D (Ameen) on a quest for justice in 80s London, a landscape thick with drug dealers and Jamaican gangsters. However, despite the violence of Yardie, the actor says the movie is really about the life Jamaican immigrants like his father faced in England.

"My family are from Jamaica, so I'd never had a chance to play that and be in that world. I was transported back to the 80s when my Dad was growing up," says Ameen.

The actor also talks about how he went method for the role. Ameen lived in Jamaica for two months. He immersed himself in the culture with the help of relations and by speaking to members of the Marley family, people who worked at Studio 1 and anyone else from the 80s who could help him get into character.

Ameen and White also discuss his casting in Yardie, the film's supernatural undertones and the theme of trauma.

Meanwhile resident film writer Roe McDermott writes about the Oscars' New Popular Film Award and how it continues the Academy's trend of provoking the mass feeling of 'What the hell?' from movie fanatics.

She argues the new category diminishes the accomplishments of women and people of colour, right as they were finally being recognised.

McDermott also reviews the latest films BlacKkKlansman, The Children Act, The Darkest Minds, Unfriended: Dark Web and The Equalizer 2, while giving a snapshot of the biggest news in the film world.

Pick up the latest Hot Press to read these great articles in full.

Featured Image Source