Freeport Projects
Inferno
londonurbancollective.com
Myspace: /infernohipopera
Winner BEST NARRATIVE SHORT, Chicago International Hip Hop Film Festival 2009
Urban Collective nominated for New Statesman Edge Upstart award 2009
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"Inferno is a unique and spectacular piece of work and we are honoured to include it in this year's festival." Geoff Harkness, curator, Chicago International Hip Hop Film Festival
London Urban Collective, the acclaimed youth-music project that turns inner-city kids into rising stars of the British music industry, has created an original filmed Hipopera that sets Dante's Inferno in modern-day London.
The 47-minute film, already chosen by Community Channel in its best of 2008 programming, has now been selected for the prestigious Jury Prize at The Chicago International Hip Hop Film Festival, held in the windy city this September. Some of the Collective have also been invited to perform live at the opening-night VIP party.
Thirty aspiring artists from the streets of London were picked from open auditions and empowered to write, record and film Inferno under the expert guidance of independent label Freeport Records in association with Community Channel and Universal Music. Not only did talented new producers compose the score from scratch, but the Collective also wrote hard-hitting lyrics in response to an outline script.
Director/Producer Harry Leckstein, who founded the Urban Collective youth-music project in 2004, said: I'm delighted that the London Urban Collective's hard work and dedication has been recognised by a wider audience. Inferno is a very original and British film and this nomination shows that it resonates with people beyond our shores.
Inferno, and its companion documentary Phoenix from the Ashes which follows the making of the film, will be released on DVD and video download through Freeport Records, Universal Digital, Cargo and IODA following the festival.
Previous London Urban Collective success stories include Johnny Fox, whose band The King Blues is now signed to Island Records imprint Field Records, and Lykez, an 18-year-old female MC from north London who has supported Method Man and Redman on UK dates and is due to play T in the Park and Underage Festival this year.
