After Riz Ahmed took home the award for Best Live Action Short Film at the Oscars this year for The Long Goodbye — which interrogates the UK's political relationship with South Asians and British Asians, and features tracks from Ahmed's 2020 album of the same name — the actor and rapper has continued to use his artistry to shed light on pressing social issues with the announcement of his modern Hamlet remake alongside Surge director Aneil Karia.
Set in contemporary London, Ahmed and Karia's Hamlet will centre on corruption and familial honour, prominent themes of the original Shakespearian story. The film will also reportedly bring forward issues of race, mental health and capitalistic greed, making the story current for our cultural and political moment.
In a statement [via Deadline], the duo shared that this remake, which will juxtapose London's high life with its low-income neighbourhoods, is "urgent, fresh and disruptive in the right way."
The adaptation was initially announced in 2017 when Ahmed was in negotiation with Netflix — a deal that did not come to fruition. Hamlet will be released in the Cannes market by WME Independent.
See our conversation with Ahmed about Mogul Mowgli, released in 2021, here.
Set in contemporary London, Ahmed and Karia's Hamlet will centre on corruption and familial honour, prominent themes of the original Shakespearian story. The film will also reportedly bring forward issues of race, mental health and capitalistic greed, making the story current for our cultural and political moment.
In a statement [via Deadline], the duo shared that this remake, which will juxtapose London's high life with its low-income neighbourhoods, is "urgent, fresh and disruptive in the right way."
The adaptation was initially announced in 2017 when Ahmed was in negotiation with Netflix — a deal that did not come to fruition. Hamlet will be released in the Cannes market by WME Independent.
See our conversation with Ahmed about Mogul Mowgli, released in 2021, here.