The extraordinary cast bringing UNDER THE SHADOW to life:
LEILA FARZAD
SOUAD FARESS
NADIA ALBINA
NICHOLAS KARIMI
MONA GOODWIN
BIJAN DANESHMAND
RACHID SABITRI
Children:
JAGO AGRAWAL
ESMA AKAR
ROHAN BERRY
ATLANTA CHANIAC GOLDING
ADI GIMZIUNAS
ERIN JEMMOTTE
Spent the past few months stunned into admiring silence by the brilliant people I get to make UNDER THE SHADOW with:
Writer - CARMEN NASR
Set - BEN STONES
Lighting - JAMES FARNCOMBE
Sound - DONATO WHARTON
Costume - KHADIJA RAZA
Casting - ANNA COOPER
Children casting - AMY BEADEL
Fights - KEV MCCURDY
Magic - SCOTT PENROSE
Assistant director - LAYLA MADANAT
Couldn’t be more excited about this one.
UNDER THE SHADOW
based on the film by Babak Anvari
adapted by Carmen Nasr
directed by Nadia Latif
set by Ben Stones
costumes by Khadija Raza
lights by James Farncombe
sounds by Donato Wharton
casting by Anna Cooper
children casting by Amy Beadel
Cast includes Leila Farzad
June 2 to July 4
Tickets at link in bio. Artwork by @nadavkander
Here’s every film I watched in 2025. More than last year in cinemas - hurrah. Favourite new releases included HARD TRUTHS, GOOD ONE, THE PRESIDENT’S CAKE, SIRAT, THE ICE TOWER and IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT. Favourite older films that weren’t rewatches included ADAPTATION, GIRLFRIENDS, BAHUBALI, DEVDAS, THE INVISIBLE MAN, THE LAIR OF THE WHITE WORM, ASHKAL. Normally I wouldn’t have seen so many films before they were released in cinemas - but being in TIFF and on a jury at LFF meant I had to. TBH, didn’t really enjoy that. Love going to buy a ticket on opening weekend - I wish more people in the industry would go watch films with members of the public in actual (ideally independent) cinemas, rather than endless industry screenings.
Saw a bunch of stuff this year and thought a lot about the increasing rarification of collective experiences. Thought about chasing relevancy, chasing excellence, chasing meaning. Saw some work so good it genuinely took my breath away. Looking forward to next year.
Nadia Latif is a theatre maker and film director from London. I had the pleasure of speaking with Nadia about growing up in Sudan, her distaste for matcha, the pros and cons of gatekeeping, serving your creative pulse, potentially being the first Sudanese woman to make a narrative feature film, and so much more. Her first feature film, The Man In My Basement, stars Willem Dafoe and is streaming on Hulu now.
Full conversation on directorfits.com ♥️
🎃 Shocktober weekend 2025 🎃 Top prize goes to SEANCE for setting my teeth on edge the same way now it did 20 years ago. Honourable mention to THE LAIR OF THE WHITE WORM for pure batshit joy.
Cinematographer Ula Pontikos, BSC @ulapontikos and director Nadia Latif @herrdirector transform The Man in My Basement @themaninmybasementmovie into a study of psychological decay, using Charles Blakey’s home as a visual metaphor for his unraveling mind. Working with production designer Kathrin Eder, Pontikos imbued the house with faded grandeur and creeping ruin, lit by sickly sodium vapor tones to mirror the character’s internal turmoil. Shot on the Sony Venice 2 @sonycine with Panavision @panavisionofficial H Series lenses, Pontikos leaned into chiaroscuro and a bold color palette of cyan, green, and orange to trace Charles’ descent. Every flicker of light, from the CRT television to the Vortex8 strobes, becomes part of the film’s language of fear and empathy.
Read more on theasc.com.
#ASC #AmericanCinematographer #Cinematography #TheManInMyBasement #UlaPontikosBSC #Filmmaking #SonyVenice2 #Panavision #LightingDesign
Nadia Latif is a theatremaker and film director. Her debut feature film The Man in My Basement, adapted from the Walter Mosley novel and starring Willem Dafoe and @coreyhawkins , is out now on @Hulu and @disneyplus !
Nadia took time to answer our 16 questions about the movies and movie experiences that have made her life sweeter 👉
