Two best friends skip school to enjoy a day of luxury at a rich classmate’s villa and end up facing life-changing choices between loyalty and ambition.

“Well performed, with well-rounded characters and a very authentic friendship anchoring the story” @festivalformula

Winner of the Best Edited Short at the London Women Film Festival.

On The Line was born from the real experiences of a group of young people from Camden, London, in particular two young women, Cheyanne Thompson and Emily Johnstone, and their friends from Action Youth Boxing Intervention. After watching my first short, #Haters (also based on real events), they devised scenes and shared experiences of growing up bright but poor, with the painful awareness of starting life on the backfoot. The dialogue is taken verbatim from their slang, bursts with their humour, their insecurities, their cultural and musical references. It brings you intimately into their world, uncovering the real individuals behind the statistics, with their complexities and deep believe in the vital role of friendship, their conflicted relationship with their families and the pull between loyalty and aspiration.

Adapting the play for screen was a very long process. I knew a film longer than 15 minutes would prove hard to sell on the festival circuit. For nearly one year I drafted and redrafted, yet the re-shapes would inevitably compromise the original ending, which was essential to honour the young storytellers. In the end, I had to settle for truth over product marketability. Their fun yet challenging tale needed to be told as it was—full of naivety, tenderness, and resilience—to deliver a message of hope to us all.

Writer / Director / Editor: Emilia Teglia
Producers: Andreea Tudose, Emilia Teglia for Odd Eyes Theatre
D.O.P. Kai-Yan Lai

Main cast:
Moses Alexander (Kai)
Annie Taylor (Tia)
Jasmine Clifford (Sienna)

Stills from the film: