Michael Long is a proud Scouser, or Liverpool native, and he wants the world to know it. The actor-director's debut feature film will have its world premiere at the Oldenburg Film Festival on Friday.
It's a big moment for Long, who admits to The Hollywood Reporter that it was a “difficult” journey and that he sometimes felt looked down upon at drama school because he was from Liverpool.
Oldenburg marks a turning point. His film, Little brotherfollows Adam (played by Paddy Rowan), who cares deeply for his younger brother, Liam (Brian Comer). But deep within the city, woven into its culture, is a generational trauma that is unshakeable for families like theirs. As Adam succumbs to the dysfunctional environment he grew up in, he feels forced to cultivate violence within himself, much to Liam’s horror.
Below, Long speaks with DAY on his pride in his roots, on bringing the charisma and magic of Liverpool to Oldenburg and on why it is more important than ever that these films are given the chance to shine on the international stage.
Congratulations on your first feature film. Can you tell me a little about it? Little brother and what inspired the project?
It's hard to pinpoint one exact thing that inspired it, but the film's theme is deeply rooted in generational trauma. The question is: do we control the person we become?
I grew up with people around me in my life, friends who grew up with people I see every day in Liverpool, and people who have done really bad things. They committed their crimes. And I've always felt empathy for them for that. I've always felt sorry that their life has taken a turn where violence is their only way of expressing themselves and they don't understand how to express themselves in other ways. I have friends who I've grown up with, people I've known from afar who have gone to prison and stuff like that, or are like, drug addicts or something, and it's always affected me. So me and my friend, Tom [Sidney]who helped me write the script, he works at a school in Manchester for a group of troubled children. We sat down and talked about different stories of people I knew, and then the stories of the children. And the film started to develop from there, really.
I don't believe that people are born bad. You know what I mean? We don't come out of the womb as bad people. And some people are born into circumstances where they have no choice, because that's all they know.
Paddy Rowan and Brian Comer play Adam and Liam in 'Baby Brother'.
And this is a very Scouse film (Scouse refers to the Liverpool accent, and people from the city are called Scousers)… What is the significance of this, of the unique way in which the citizens of Liverpool communicate, interact and live?
It's very unique. I went to drama school and when I auditioned for drama school, people looked down on me. I don't know what my perspective was, but I felt like people felt sorry for me, like I was a troubled kid. And I didn't, I had a wonderful childhood, but people looked down on me because we're from Liverpool and people see Liverpool as a specific place… Don't get me wrong, the themes of our film are really difficult. But it's also a magical place with incredible charisma and atmosphere and energy. My dream as a writer and director is to want to expose the magic of the city to the world. Little brother He shows a lot of his darkness, but in the next films I want to show a lot of his light.
As you say, the way we interact, the way we communicate, is different from anywhere in the world. We think of Liverpool as the New York of the UK. I was always told I had to leave Liverpool to make it in this industry and I resisted that because I always felt my city had never been showcased in the way it should have been. I want to build an industry within my city, and this is just, hopefully, the beginning. And I think Liverpool can basically be an epicentre for film and TV in our country and around the world. You see talent from our city like Jodie Comer, Stephen Graham, the biggest actor in the world right now. Our city is going to be a huge part of the industry, and I never want to leave it and forget about it, because it’s a big part of who I am. I’m proud of where I come from and proud of the people I grew up with.
And as you said, this movie is about generational trauma and what gets passed down in your family. But there's also a class element at play.
Absolutely, there is a class element. And there is a class element in me and in the people in it. I am a working class person from Liverpool. I am 31 now. My mother was a receptionist at the local hospital, my father was a stonemason. And everyone involved is from the areas we filmed in. The main character, Paddy Rowan. You might have seen him in Blue from ITV, where he played Rhys Jones' killer. He's an extremely talented guy. We need more opportunities for the working class. And I think what I'm trying to show is that you use what you have, and we'll build it ourselves, and we'll knock down the doors ourselves and start building our own industry, and everyone else will come calling.
I would like to ask about the title of the film, Little brotherand the family aspect. Because we see Adam deeply affected by his upbringing, but also such a caring older brother. I was wondering about this theme, since he is a caring person but is forced to cultivate this violent side.
That's the main theme of the movie. It's a good person who is forced to do bad things. And there are a lot of people in this world who, let's say, deal drugs, and people who see drug dealers as these horrible people who are destroying communities. And don't get me wrong, there are elements of that in those people, but I've met them, I've talked to them, and a lot of them are really good people at their core. People for whom this is just their only way out, or their only way to make a lot of money. Are you going to deal drugs and make thousands of dollars, or are you going to get a job at a store?
Paddy's character, Adam, is also at the epicenter of that idea. His brother, Liam, is based on a lot of people. In a lot of ways, he's kind of based on myself. Because I was a kid who, when I was little, got into stuff like that. Obviously, I grew up with that. I have a younger sister who's autistic and I'm always worried about what her life would have been like in a more vulnerable situation.
How was it when you received confirmation that your film would premiere in Oldenburg?
It was a relief because I have no connection to any festivals in the world, we were just blindly submitting and we were getting a lot of rejections. I was talking to friends like, “Holy shit, Jesus. What are we going to do here? Nobody wants this.” And then Oldenburg emailed us, and they looked at it a week before, emailed us… I jumped right into Zoom and we just screamed our lungs out.
I'll be honest, this journey for myself, trying to get into this industry, it's been really, really tough. So to start to see a glimmer of how I can make a living out of it is… It's been a really cool moment. And to be here now is quite unique. Being in the cinema, watching a Turkish film last night and a Mexican film, and seeing all the different cultures, it's amazing, man. To have Liverpool represented here in Germany and in Oldenburg, it's really exciting.
Oldenburg is a film festival that really supports independent cinema and gives these opportunities to people at the beginning of their careers. How important is it to highlight these independent films in the current climate?
The way the industry is working right now is that no one seems to be taking a risk. I could be wrong, but from my perspective, no one wants to take a risk. No one wants to put someone else out there. When you give new artists the opportunity to share their talent and shape it in a way and expose it to an audience… In this day and age, would Martin Scorsese or Francis Ford Coppola have that opportunity? It's incredible that a festival like this gives people that opportunity. It's fundamental.
Little brother will have its world premiere at the Oldenburg Film Festival on Friday, September 13.