British screenwriter, director and former actress, Amma Asante’s career as a filmmaker is going from strength to strength particularly with her last film, A United Kingdom. The film told the tale of the 1940’s interracial relationship between the Prince Seretse Khama (David Oyelowo) of Botswana and a white woman (Rosamund Pike) from London and earned her critical acclaim.
Related: Amma Asante on A United Kingdom
With the release of the first image of her next film, Where Hands Touch, Asante sticks to the theme that has worked so well for her in a tale which tells of the struggles of love between the daughter of a bi-racial couple, Leyna, played by Amandla Stenberg and a young man who is a member of the Hitler Youth, Lutz, played by George MacKay.
Asante said: “It has been a passion of mine to tell this story, for many years – to shine a light on the existence of German children of colour who were forced to grow up under Hitler’s rule, labelled as Rhineland bastards. Against this historical backdrop, Leyna and Lutz enter a rite of passage negotiating the path to true identity in a society that has turned in on itself and is eating its own tail. Completing this film brings together everything I am as a filmmaker, and allows me the milestone of achieving my fourth picture.”
Funded by the BFI, Where Hands Touch is produced by Charlie Hanson (David Brent: Life on the Road, A Way of Life) and Shot in Belgium and the Isle of Man, filming wrapped in December and is currently in post-production.
Where Hands Touch Official Synopsis
Germany 1944: 15-year old Leyna (Amandla Stenberg), daughter of a white German mother and a black father meets Lutz (George MacKay), the son of a prominent SS officer, and a member of the Hitler Youth – compulsory for all Aryan boys since 1936. They fall helplessly in love, putting their lives at risk as all around them the persecution of Jews and those deemed ‘non-pure’ slowly unfolds. Does their love stand a chance amidst violence and hatred?
