Oscar-nominated Irish director Lenny Abrahamson has admitted that recent political developments such as Brexit and Donald Trump's victory changed his outlook on what we can expect from his upcoming projects.
Speaking at The Dubai Film Festival, he said that he is in the process of making decisions about what to do next and his priorities have changed since the political upheavals. "I’m not overtly political," he stated, "but I want to be on the right side of what is a very political line."
Lenny is working on several projects, of which he is sure one will "deeply offend" some. "It’s amazing, people don’t have any understanding of the history of their own country," he observed. "And as an outsider I’m going in and deeply offending everyone on that side of the political spectrum."
This forthcoming project is focused on the United States: "I’m in early days on a project that goes through a lot of U.S. history. It starts in the mid-1700s and goes until now and follows the black experience in the States. Organizations like Black Lives Matter are vilified by the right."
Another project he is working on is about Emile Griffith, a gay black kid, who came to the U.S. from the American Virgin Islands and started working in the fashion industry in ladies’ hats. It takes place in New York's 60s . After someone suggested that he should start boxing, Emile developed rapidly: a mere three years later he was the world champ. "Is an amazing story that’s really relevant to now," Lenny said. "It’s about living a double life, about people affected by repressive social conventions. It’s titled A Man’s World."
Lastly, there is the project based on the American Civil War novel Neverhome by Laird Hunt. He suggests that this is the most relevant to what is going on now.
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Lenny added that what will come out of Brexit will be largely negative: "Ireland was the first country to vote for same-sex marriage, and that’s a really good thing," he said. "It amazes me though, after 70 years, given the history of the continent before that, that it looks like we are on the brink of destroying the EU. I cannot believe that is happening and how easy it is.
"In a period of stability, you think things won’t change. Things have changed so quickly. And in the States they are heading into very dark orders now."