Karlovy Vary Standout ‘In Camera’ Is Made for a Generation Who ‘Can Only Focus for a Minute at a Time’

variety.com:

Nick Holdsworth Naqqash Khalid always wanted to make films. An English literature graduate of Salford University in Manchester, England, who began his working life as a lecturer in the university’s School of Arts and Media, Khalid dreamed of working with actors to create films that reflect our 21st century experience of a fractured world, dominated by mobile phones and social media, where time no longer seems to follow a linear path.

His chance to make his dreams reality came when a script he wrote while still teaching at Salford was picked up by iFeatures – a BBC Film/Creative England/British Film Institute program for debut directors.

A development grant in early 2020 enabled him to realize his script “In Camera,” which had its world premiere Saturday in Karlovy Vary Film Festival’s Proxima competition slot (for the Variety review see here).

Khalid, now 30, says the film enabled him to explore the nature of contemporary life for a younger generation coping with the loss of old structures that once gave shape and form to daily existence. “What is really contemporary about ‘In Camera’ is its rhythm: it feels like a film made for this generation, which can only focus for a minute at a time,” he said. “We live in an age where we look at an app on our phone and see cool influencer images, mental breakdowns and genocide.