A real life Scottish and African wedding has inspired a new drama hitting BBC iPlayer later this month.
Acclaimed filmmaker Stewart Kyasimire was inspired to make the drama following his own wedding to wife Emma in Glasgow in the spring of this year.
Stewart came to prominence in the Scottish TV industry with the BAFTA-nominated Black and Scottish documentary, which featured Ncuti Gatwa who has recently been cast as the new Doctor Who.
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Stewart was inspired to make the documentary from his own childhood experiences in Glasgow, after he came to the city in 1983 from Kenya at the age of three and by seeing his own young daughter Yasmin growing up with few black or mixed-race onscreen representations.
Now the film-maker is taking a new direction with a drama, but again it has been inspired by events in his own life, with the project being taken on and developed through BBC Scotland. The idea for this project was inspired by a chat with his good friend and James Bond actor Colin Salmon.
A renowned actor, who has appeared in a range of film and TV hits from Resident Evil to Prime Suspect and Silent Witness, Colin was at Stewart and Emma’s wedding earlier this year and suggested their wedding could be the inspiration for a new project and the director’s first move into drama.
The Wedding will be a six-part series of short films revealing the story of a Scots/African wedding from the perspective of six different people attending the event. It launches on BBC iPlayer on Monday October 24, during Black History Month, with two 30 minutes versions going out at a later date on the BBC Scotland channel.
The backdrop to the six stories featured in the drama is the wedding of a bride with Scottish roots and a groom with mixed Kenyan and Ugandan roots, who are ‘tying the knot’ after many years.
Among the key cast is Guilt star Moyo Akandé, playing The Estranged Sister in a part written and directed by her sister Morayo Akandé, and Nandi Hudson, from Netflix’s Army of Thieves, playing The Teenage Daughter.
Other actors featured in the project include River City’s Brian James Leys as The 2nd Best Man, Michelle Chantelle Hopewell as The African Mother, Bruce Fummey as The Gambling Uncle, and Lola Aluko, as The Bartender.
Stewart Kyasimire is the series director and also directs three of the six short films, which have all been written and cast with people from the black creative community, with an extensively diverse production team behind the scenes. Stewart said: "I’ve always had a love for celebrating and bringing together the black community, so following the success of my BAFTA-nominated documentary Black and Scottish I once again wanted to find a way to highlight and celebrate the Black and Scottish community.
“And The Wedding is an idea based on my own wedding which took place this year in May. I should stress, that while my own wedding inspired some of the drama, the stories and characters are not based on friends and relatives.
“Thinking of ideas, I figured what better way to show commonality and love than our almost universal celebration of just that, a wedding. I hope The Wedding will showcase how we all have much more in common with each other than we think, despite our apparent differences in race, religion, and gender.
"Our six characters are chosen because they all have something that the audience can resonate with from their own lives, no matter their race. The stories purposely don’t emphasise trauma, but instead emphasise commonality and love.
“Behind the camera myself and the production team also wanted to showcase that it is possible to put together a diverse crew in Scotland. And I think in the end our production team was 75 per cent People of Colour.
“I think I just wanted to create a series of films that showed generations growing up and mixing in an increasingly diverse world, that it is okay to mix and integrate and that it is a reality we can all picture. And what better time to celebrate that than in Black History Month.”
Gavin Smith, Commissioning Executive at BBC Scotland, said: “This is a universal drama, with pathos, relatable situations and a good dose of light-hearted humour, which can be enjoyed by people from all backgrounds across Scotland.
“But we are also delighted to be backing a project, which clearly celebrates Black and Scottish heritage and that is powered by a vibrant community of Black talent based in Scotland.”
Read on below for more information into the six short dramas coming to BBC iPlayer in November.
The Second Best Man
A gay friend of the groom, who at one time thought there might be more between them, gives a bitter-sweet speech about not finding a love of his own. He is played by Brian James Leys, who is known to Scottish audiences, as Ash King in River City, but also featured in the 2021 TV series Crime and children’s programme Princess Mirror-Belle, as well as West End hit Motown: The Musical.
It was written by Ghanaian-Scottish screenwriter Lorna King, a Glasgow Short Film Festival Pitch competition winner and a graduate of Screen Academy Scotland, and is directed by Stewart Kyasimire.
The Gambling Uncle
He arrived in Scotland, three years after his sister (the African mother). Initially confident, he has somewhat lost his way through gambling and pressures related to his ties back in Africa. He is played by comedian and actor Bruce Fummey, whose credits include The Lost King.
It was written and directed by Scottish director & writer Manu Kurewa, who works across film, theatre and visual arts and has had his work screened at major international festivals.
The Bartender
She came to Scotland five years ago from Nigeria and aspires to a creative life - acting and modelling. She acts as the commentator, rounding up the evening’s events. She is played by Lola Aluko, who was in the BBC series The Demon Headmaster and made her professional theatre debut in acclaimed Vanishing Point play Interiors.
It is written by RCS graduate actor and writer Titana Muthui, who was mentored for this project by Lorna King. It was directed by Stewart Kyasimire.
The Teenage Daughter
A sixteen year old, who is equal parts teen rebellion and teen insecurity, reflects on her mixed race heritage. She is played by Nandi Hudson from Army of Thieves on Netflix and BBC’s The Nest. She is also set to appear in the forthcoming film adaptation of the Take That musical titled Greatest Days.
This short was written by author and journalist Eilidh Akilade with her sister Eubha Akilade as co-writer. Eubha, a Scottish actress and writer known for her role as Ines Le Breton in Find Me in Paris and short-film Black Wool, which she wrote and directed, also directed the short.
The Estranged Sister
A kind of wild child in her teens. She fled the family in acrimony to live and work in Spain. Now she hides in the bathroom and thinks about the reception that awaits her. Played by Moyo Akandé (Guilt, The Hurricane Heist).
Written and directed by BAFTA Scotland-nominated writer/director Morayo Akandé (1745, A.V. Van). Morayo and Moyo, also known as the Akandé sisters, are the co-founders of Lucid Dreamers Productions, which develops and produces international projects.
The African Mother
The mother of the groom, played by Michelle Chantelle Hopewell, reflects on her feelings about the other characters and her strong African roots against changing cultural mores. Michelle is a graduate of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and has toured with the Royal Shakespeare Company and has credits ranging in theatre from A Streetcar
Named Desire to CBeebies Molly and Mack on TV in which she will now feature as a regular. Written by Mara Menzies, a narrative artist whose works draw on her Kenyan/Scottish heritage. Directed by Stewart Kyasimire.
The Wedding, a creation of six short dramas, will be available on BBC iPlayer from October 24 onwards, and on BBC Scotland at a later date.
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