Kurzfilm
The Babka
Once the game begins, there’s no going back!!
Ein illegaler Halloween-Rave wird zum Albtraum, als Zee und ihre Freunde ein unheimliches, längst vergessenes Spiel entdecken.
Michael Jenkins
Michael Jenkins is a writer/director of TV and film who’s extremely motivated to bring well-told stories to as wide an audience as possible. I believe passionately in the role of TV and film plays as an engine for understanding and change.
He is currently a writer in residence for 5 Acts Productions, an ITV studios Label where I have had two pilot scripts commissioned.
Last year he 2nd unit directed on Stephen Merchant’s, ‘The Outlaws’ and this year In March of this year, I shadowed Charles Martin on Paramount Plus‘, ‚The crow girl ‚ and is 2nd unit directing on an Apple TV show
He has made various shorts including one for CBBC called Topknot or not. A short film he wrote and directed – PICKNEY; funded by the BFI, was a quarter finalist in the HBO short film competition and won an audience award at the American Black Film Festival in 2021.
Michaels films have played at numerous international film festivals including, Pan African Film and Arts Festival, (LA). The UNESCO Creative Cities Annual Meeting in Santos Brazil, Africa in Motion (Glasgow), Third Horizon (Miami), Toronto Black Film Festival (Canada), Flatpack Festival, The Shot List, Two Short Nights, Film and Folklore Festival (Trinidad & Tobago), Caribbeantales International Film Festival and ‘Friday Late’ – GUAP x V&A.
He was voted among the 100 most influential people in Bristol in the BME power list 2018 and won ‘Best Short film’ for ‘Check the Label’ at The Royal Television Society Awards West 2018. Also ‘Best Documentary’ at the Royal Television Society Awards West 2021, for Monumental, two BBC Local Radio Gillard Awards for ‘Diversity and Community’ among other awards.
He is a Greison DocLab Alumni, a full voting member of BAFTA and the co-artistic director of the Bristol School of Acting.
Directors Statement
Writing and directing is a journey into the infinite world of our collective human experience. It’s a way to explore, understand, and connect with the plethora of faces of life. I believe in the power of stories to reveal our deeper truths and create empathy.
Since a child I have been captivated by the uncanny, the eerie intersection where the familiar and the unfamiliar, exist together. In my writing I focus on crafting intense, atmospheric settings that amplify that sense of unease, exploring how characters grapple with both internal and external demons reflecting the fear that we all bear.
The Babka takes place in an abandoned Magdalene laundry from the Victorian era used as a workhouse for unmarried or promiscuous women. Working with the amazing actors from The Bristol School of Acting I wrote a piece that I wanted to be relatable but also incorporate a not so well-known historical travesty.
I was also heavily influenced by the Polish hide and seek game, Ciuciubabka, a game which spins you into the unknown.
Cast & Crew
Michael Jenkins: Director, Writer
(Pickney)
Bex Rose: Producer
(Pickney)
Sheney Arscott: Key Cast
