Ashley Walters's Directing Debut Draws on His Own Time Locked Up
Ashley Walters has directed his first film, Animol, set in a young offender institution. He had already packed a great deal in before he turned 21: a No. 1 hit, performances on TV and the West End stage, fatherhood, and seven months in prison.
The film is by no means autobiographical — Nick Love, of Football Factory fame, wrote it — but Walters says a lot of it is based on his own experience and memories of being locked up. He wanted it to feel, look and sound the way it did to him.
AI-generated discussion · Different perspectives
“Not autobiographical” and “built from memory” are not in conflict: a screenwriter supplies the plot, while the director supplies the remembered texture of the place.
Memory is a poor stenographer, though. A film drawn from recollection can be honest about the feeling and wrong about the facts — and the wrongness is often what makes it worth watching.