'Hard-hitting' east London film could be released on Netflix

Remember Us was partially filmed in Barkingside Park, Mossford Green Road, Ilford Social Club and Ilford County High School.

The film follows Lucas Thompson, played by Feisal Bizimana, an actor from Romford.

Lucas is forced to do community service delivering parcels to the elderly Mr Miller (Rob Trend) who suffers from dementia.

READ MORE: Which Redbridge schools are shut today due to the snow?

Director Kaitlyn Boxall said: "It's about dementia awareness and tackling discrimination in Britain's modern day society where two people from two different generations become quite close friends.

"It stems from a black boy named Lucas who gets put on community service for shoplifting and has to deliver food parcels to an elderly man who has dementia.

"[The elderly man] is a racist at first but then they become close friends.

"It's quite a hard-hitting story."

Remember Us was filmed at Ilford County High School (Image: Duane Valentino)

Remember Us was filmed in Ilford between early January and late June and is currently in post-production.

It is due to be released in 2023, according to Kaitlyn, who is currently in talks with multiple distribution companies, including one which works closely with Netflix.

The director, who grew up in south London, said: "There's parts of london that I come from like Greenwich and Bexley where you see quite a good range of creativity going on.

"But in east London, particularly Ilford, I never really saw any of that and I thought it would be nice to bring [my film] to that side of London."

READ MORE: East London tube delays as London blanketed in snow

"Also I was aware of the crime rate that side", she said. "I haven't seen a lot of positive news coverage [of it]...

"I thought [the movie could] touch on those parts of London as well but in a positive [way]."

Characters attempt to groom Lucas into doing criminal acts throughout the film (Image: Duane Valentino)

Kaitlyn said: "We filmed long days and nights in Ilford, particularly in April and March, where we filmed our night scenes.

"Locals walking past were very surprised to see it taking place and told me that they have never seen film productions going on within Ilford before. 

"[That] felt good to hear as it made the production team feel we were bringing something positive to the Ilford community and perhaps helping to inspire the young people in the Redbridge borough."

READ MORE: Coroner criticises nurses over Goodmayes Hospital death

Kaitlyn added that she wanted to tackle themes she thought were underrepresented in the movie industry.

She said: "There's not a great deal of films discussing dementia awareness...

"And also with the relevance of discrimination in Britain at the moment - especially with the Black Lives Matter movement (BLM) in recent years - that seemed like a very relevant tie to put in."

The movie also stars actor and director Frank Harper.

You can watch the trailer here.