Filmwire Spotlight: Jermaine Canute Edwards
Born in Jamaica and raised in Nottingham, Jermaine Canute Edwards worked as a camera operator on titles like ’71 and Pride whilst honing his cinematography skills on a number of short films. Last year saw his first two feature works as cinematographer – My Father’s Shadow and Ish – win awards at both the Cannes and Venice film festivals respectively. As My Father’s Shadow hits UK cinemas, we caught up with Jermaine after a very busy twelve months.
How did you come to meet Akinola Davies and get involved with My Father’s Shadow?
I interviewed for his 2020 short film Lizard, which was around the time I was working in an office in [Nottingham’s] Victoria Centre. We almost worked together in 2021, but I ended up doing B camera for Matilda The Musical instead. Things eventually aligned for rituals: unionblack, which was a series of short documentaries where we travelled across the UK filming a birth, a funeral, weddings – Black culture across the UK, basically. Whilst we were filming that, we were getting lunch at a Morrisons in Solihull and I asked him what his next project was. And he told me about My Father’s Shadow. He held his cards really close to his chest, but I said I’d love to be involved. When I finally got the script, I thought it was amazing. It’s a super personal work from Akin and his brother Wale, who lost their father when they were really young.
Did you talk a lot about the story and themes before the shoot began in Nigeria?
Me, Akin and [producer] Rachel Dargavel sat down and went through the emotional beats and whose story it was. I filled a sketchbook with ideas and then I would go to the set in Nigeria and sit in the space for 20 minutes before we started shooting, figuring out where the light was coming from, where to put the camera. That’s my way of being creative and contributing and I was given complete freedom to explore that. Akin is a person who builds space where people can feel like they can do their best work. He allows me to do what I need to. I don’t work well in an environment where I’m told to do something I’ve been doing or watching people do for more than seventeen years.
What was the thinking behind filming on 16mm?
rituals: unionblack was shot on 16mm and I’ve been working with 16mm since before film school. I started out in 2007, when pretty much everything was shot on film, so it was the way I developed my style of cinematography - by watching people work on film and seeing them using all the different tricks and shortcuts. I shot my graduation film on 35mm, so I’ve used film a lot.
Do you have a clear preference between celluloid and digital?
I think there’s something special about a physical medium. About actually hearing the film go through the camera. There’s an alchemy to it. What I like about digital is that it democratized filmmaking, so you can pick up your phone and just make something. But with that comes the floodgates of mediocrity. I mean, I was mediocre at one point, right? But it floods YouTube and other dispensaries of media with mediocre ‘content’ or footage, and then people become experts in telling you how to light something, even though they don’t have an actual understanding. That’s what's disappointing about digital. With film, you have to give it respect. You have to know what the film stock can and can’t do. It has imperfections and that’s why I tell stories. The most interesting characters are those who are flawed, and there’s an aesthetic about film which is better for telling those stories. I always say that people are always trying to make digital look more like film, but you never try and make film look like digital. That tells you a lot.
Last year was very busy for you. My Father’s Shadow got the Camera d’Or Special Mention at the Cannes Film Festival and your next project Ish [directed by Imran Perretta] won the Audience Award at the Venice Film Festival.
Last year was insane. It’s changed a lot. I had three interviews yesterday for work – one for a documentary, one a TV show and one a feature. I feel like my next film is really important. I need to do a project that’s the calibre of [Ish and My Father’s Shadow]. That pressure is self-imposed, right? I’ve imposed that sanction upon myself, in a way, but I need to vibe with the script and be able to tell it in an interesting way. But I also need to make money!
How have you found being a cinematographer based in Nottingham?
When I first started out in the film industry, there were lots of government funded short film projects in the East Midlands, but then then the Tories came in and wiped all that away. I’d worked on a lot of short films and features like Skeletons and Bronson, which were partly filmed in Nottinghamshire. We didn’t have a big film industry like London or Manchester or Liverpool, but it was decent. But there ultimately just wasn’t enough work. Everything is still very London centric and it can be disheartening, because that’s where all the money is. If you took London out of the UK, the whole country would be considerably poorer. It’s a shame that money isn’t distributed more to the regions, I find that frustrating. I want to stay in Nottingham, I’m planning to buy a house in West Bridgford. When I went to Venice, [Oscar nominated cinematographer] Robbie Ryan was there. He saw My Father’s Shadow, thought it was amazing and he was like, ‘Where have you been?’ And I said, ‘I’ve just been in Nottingham.’ (laughs) What I appreciate about all this happening to me is it’s like a beacon for people who live in the Midlands to say, ‘Okay, that guy can do it, so can I!’
My Father’s Shadow is released in UK cinemas from 6 Feb, including screenings at The Mockingbird in Digbeth, Warwick Arts Centre and the Midlands Arts Centre over the next few weeks. Ish will be released later this year.
This interview featured in the latest edition of Filmwire. Sign up for the Filmwire newsletter to stay in the loop on all the latest Midlands film happenings.