Britain’s forgotten youth shown in a new feature Bypass directed by Duane Hopkins is screening at Ultimate Picture Palace on 18th April.
Duane Hopkins set out to make a film that exposes the brutal facts of life for young people with no job and no support, using the contemporary themes maligned under the heading ‘Broken Britain’ and creating a completely modern thriller. A thriller with a conscience.
For the screenings at the Ultimate Picture Palace,
Hopkins says:
“I wanted to make a film that highlights the real situation for so many, but also to temper this with redemption and beauty. To create the sense that through it all, my main character wants to be a good person who has the potential to create and give to the next generation – a responsibility that we all share. My hope is that whilst the subject is raw and real, its depiction within a ‘thriller’ setting will enable audiences to engage with a subject who may not have otherwise.”
Before writing Bypass, Hopkins set the film’s characters and storylines in credible research: one of his main contacts was Professor Rob MacDonald, author of Poverty and Insecurity: Life in Low-pay, No-pay Britain. Hopkins went on to conduct his own methodical research amongst the young, vulnerable and fringe elements of society – interviewing in hostels and key support organisations.
Professor MacDonald said:
“Duane was interested in serious academic, sociological research about young people growing up in Britain’s poor neighbourhoods – in all its details and nuances. I can see the
producer Samm Haillay, Dr Elaine Chase
and Professor Robert Walker from Oxford Institute of Social Policy will talk about the issues
raised in the film and take part in a post-film Q&A.

sociological reality of what we have uncovered over years of in-depth, close up research reflected in Bypass. One example would be the labour of the low-level criminal economy, in which Tim is trapped. This ‘work’ is very similar in character to the labour of the low-level non-criminal economy of low pay and zero hour contracts that has become common for many. Bypass situates itself in this sociological terrain…It is pertinent and timely.”
Bypass stars EE BAFTA “Rising Star” nominee George MacKay (Pride, Sunshine On Leith) as Tim, a young man who has been left to deal with his family debts after his parents’ deaths. Forced to fend off bailiffs, pressures to join the local drug trade and, most worryingly, increasing ill health, his only solace comes from his ever-loving girlfriend. But this may be about to change when Tim learns he is going to be a father.
Manohla Dargis, Chief Film Critic at the New York Times, saw the film in New York where Bypass screened as part of Film Comments Selects, and published the following:
“Beautifully shot and acted, this surprisingly tender story evades the
usual British miserablism with a radical expressionism and unalloyed empathy for its central character, a young man struggling and somehow transcending.”
Bypass opened in selected UK cinemas on 10th April, and will be released on VOD 11th May.
WWW.BYPASSTHEFILM.COM
THIRD FILMS | Samm Haillay:
THIRD is a film production company based in Newcastle Upon Tyne, co-founded by writer- director Duane Hopkins and producer Samm Haillay.
Previous films include works by directors including Duane Hopkins, Gillian Wearing, Mark Cousins, Esther May Campbell, Andrew McVicar and others.
More recently, Samm has produced BLOOD CELLS, directed by Luke Seomore & Joseph Bull. Starring Barry Ward, BLOOD CELLS premiered at the 2014 Venice Film Festival at the same time as BYPASS which premiered in the Orizzonti section of the festival,
Samm has also produced Mark Cousins’ documentary 6 DESIRES: DH LAWRENCE AND SARDINIA, which played Sundance this year, and the debut feature of Esther May Campbell, currently in post – production.
DR ELAINE CHASE and PROFESSOR ROBERT WALKER: Researchers at the Department of Social Policy and Intervention. Professor Walker worked with the Media Trust and put together a number of short films, which capture the essence of how people feel and are made to feel because of poverty. The four shorts were then made into a single film: RICH MAN POOR MAN.