Yellow | Elham Ehsas

About

We are delighted to be hosting Elham Ehsas' film Yellow in the gallery! 

Opening night Thursday 18th of January 6 - 8pm.

Born in Kabul, Afghanistan and having fled the Taliban when he was young, Elham came to the West in search of a better life and found a love in cinema. Since making his acting debut in the acclaimed international hit film The Kite Runner, Elham has branched out into creating his own short films, which seek to tell stories that aren’t often shown on our screens, inspired by stories from his own home country. His directing style connects audiences with his balance of simple storytelling and depth of character.

His debut short film, Our Kind of Love, was long-listed for a 2019 BAFTA award and went on to be screened at festivals all around the world, including London Short Film festival, Underwire, Mumbai International Film festival, London Migration festival and Aesthetica. The film has currently been viewed by more than two million people since its premier on YouTube and the prestigious Short of the Week.

The Old Fire Station commissioned Elham Ehsas as part of Lights Up 2021, our online art programme. We then went on to provide funding for his film Yellow. Good Chance, an arts charity that supports artists who have been displaced, was also pivotal in the film’s production.

“There’s a gap in the stories about the part of the world I’m from. Oftentimes, the people in these areas and their stories aren’t overly dramatic. I thought maybe I could change the way they’re shown. Being a director came out of a necessity to control my life as an actor.”

Yellow, Ehsas’s fourth short film as a director, tells the story of Laili (played by Afsaneh Dehrouyeh), who walks into a Chadari store in Kabul to buy her first full-body veil and face a new future. Ehsas was inspired to write the film after he saw a news conference by the Taliban where they decreed that women must wear an all-covering veil in public and then limited their ability to work, their access to education, and their freedom of movement.

The film was written and directed by Elham Ehsas, who also appeared on screen with Afsaneh Dehrouyeh and Ahmad Jan Mano. The film is Oscar and BAFTA-qualifying, and has toured over 50 film festivals including 14 Oscar-qualifying festivals.