Beyond the Blade – The Guardian releases four short films based on its award-winning year-long investigation into knife crime in the UK
The Guardian has created four fictional films as a creative response to Beyond the Blade, a year-long investigation into knife crime in the UK, led by editor-at-large Gary Younge.
Produced in-house by The Guardian, this series of short dramas features fictional characters created from more than a year of factual reporting. The films can be watched on The Guardian website: gu.com/blade.
The films were directed and produced by Lindsay Poulton and written by Gary Younge with script writer Julian Poidevin. Gary Younge was also an executive producer alongside Laurence Topham. Producers were Ekaterina Ochagavia and Shanida Scotland. Director of photography was Sara Deane and commissioning editor was Christian Bennett.
In 2017, The Guardian launched Beyond the Blade, a year-long investigation led by Guardian editor-at-large Gary Younge, documenting knife crime in the UK. It recorded the death of each child and teen killed by knives and pursued the themes and possible solutions to the issues surrounding knife crime. The reporting won the Amnesty UK Media awards and the Society of Editors Press Award, which described the investigation as “brilliant in-depth journalism that told a familiar story in a new way [and] had a real impact”.
Any similarity in the films to real people, living or dead, is coincidental.
Gary Younge, editor-at-large, The Guardian said:
“In my Beyond the Blade investigation, I sought to get behind the sensationalist headlines and salacious sound bites about knife crime, to provide facts that could help us make sense of what is really happening in the UK and challenge the kind of preconceptions that had been allowed to fester.”
Lindsay Poulton, director and producer, The Guardian said:
“By offering a fleeting glimpse into the lives of people who are living in the aftermath of trauma, I hope the films will help provoke a humane conversation about youth violence. We drew on a lot of documentary filmmaking grammar and used the tools of drama and fiction filmmaking, to extend the reach and impact of Gary’s in-depth journalism.”
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