PLAY IT SAFE Short Film

“Coaxed into playing a racial typecast in a fellow student's play, Jonathan is faced to either challenge prejudice, or play it safe.”

Directed by Mitch Kalisa and starring Jonathan Ajayi (BIFA’s Best Newcomer, Screenstar of Tomorrow), PLAY IT SAFE won the Oscar Qualifying Grand Jury Award for Narrative Short at South by Southwest, and has been selected by many other festivals including (BFI) London Film Festival, Telluride, Nashville, Palm Springs, AFI.

In a U.K. drama school where students are being encouraged to “take up more space,” student Jonathan is firstly confronted by pressure to play a stereotyped role in a play. Then a seemingly harmless acting exercise becomes a particular challenge which he has to decide whether to face, in front of his watchful peers and teacher. 

The short delves into issues of racism that need to be addressed in artistic institutions and the entertainment industry as a whole, pertaining to stereotyping in casting along with diversity and representation. 

Behind the scenes of PLAY IT SAFE courtesy of London Flair PR

This story has been in the works for 7 years by director Mitch Kalisa, with the idea for it planted in his head ever since he took acting classes as a teen. Through the process of acting classes, Kalisa eventually discovered that his “real passion lay in crafting stories and then developing them into a performance” leading to his grounding in creating character driven stories.

Producer Chris Toumazou and Jonathan Ajayi both grew up in West London and attended Arts Educational School, and referenced the school as a perfect setting for Kalisa’s visualization of setting for the short film. Arts Ed were incredibly supportive of being the shooting location for the short even in light of the delicate themes of the film with both Head of Drama Julie Spencer and production manager Di Stedman championing the film's production. In fact, an open casting was held for current students of the school to be background actors, but the team were so overwhelmed with the performers’ talent that some of the featured student roles were cast through the open call. 

The final scene of the short with particularly gripping cinematography conveys Kalisa’s goal for the film to ruminate on the actions of the class and teacher in face of Jonathan’s choice, also encouraging self-reflection from the audience. 

Images courtesy of London Flair PR