LOSING US
'Losing Us' is a short film about
FAMILY LOVE AND SURVIVAL
17-year-old Gezim, refugee and victim of human trafficking in the UK, is doing everything he can to keep his 12-year-old sister Elira safe after their mother goes missing and they are left to fend for themselves.
Losing Us is now completed and was filmed with international cast and crew in various locations around Norfolk in the UK in 2021 and 2022, with most of the scenes filmed in the small town of Reepham.
If you are interested to know more about this project, please contact our producer Lesley van Dijk at levandijk@hotmail.com.
17-year-old Gezim and 12-year-old Elira live in a happy, loving Albanian family. Violence in their community is rising and the killing of their dad forces their mother Luljeta and the siblings to flee for their lives. They leave their country and after a treacherous long journey, they finally end up on UK shores. Here they have to find ways to survive with the help of the dangerous human trafficking gang member who gives them fake passports.
Luljeta, who is a former teacher, takes a job as a cleaner but what she earns is not enough to feed her children and pay back the gang members. Luljeta mysteriously disappears, leaving her children Gezim and Elira to fend for themselves without any knowledge of what happened to their mother. Gezim fears the worst and tries to protect his sister from that knowledge while attempting to figure out how to survive.
MEET THE TEAM
Losing Us is very proud to have a professional, dedicated, diverse and gender-balanced team, with ethnic backgrounds ranging from Estonian, Dutch, German, English, Albanian and French.
Estonian born and UK-based Teele Dunkley is a director, editor, writer and still photographer.
Her career started in 2010, working for Eye Film and TV. Soon after that, Teele went freelance, focusing on making music videos, short films and actors showreels in the UK and in Estonia.
Now, Teele has directed 27 projects, with the size of the crews ranging from ‘one-woman-crew’ to 70 people. She has recently received awards for scriptwriting short film 'Metres Apart' that she also directed in 2020.
Teele can apply all her skills, passion for filmmaking and her interest in meaningful human stories by creating Losing Us.
DIRECTOR
Teele Dunkley
Lesley, who is originally from the Netherlands, is a producer, photographer and communications professional. She has more than two decades of experience in communications, marketing and project management. Her unique mix of being visually creative and having worked in the corporate world, is a real asset to Losing Us. Recently, Lesley produced short film ‘Metres Apart’ and has previously produced promotional videos while working as Head of Communications. In 2009, she produced a set of short films about Gypsies and Travellers. The project won a national award from the Royal Town Planning Institute that year. She has a big heart for the environment and is working on her own film (script phase), which is about climate change aimed at young teenagers.
PRODUCER
Stephan Drury is an award-winning script writer, lecturer at The Open University and an actor. He has trained at Rose Bruford College, a Theatre and Performance academy, and has an MA in Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia. Stephan has written several scripts for film and theatre productions. He writes black comedy, tragedy and drama that is sharp, witty and psychologically informed. He often explores existential themes of mortality, madness and isolation in an absurdist manner.
His professional writing experience is paramount and has enabled him to write a raw account of refugee life and a meaningful script, that won Losing Us numerous awards and high ranking places in script competitions and film festivals.
WRITER
The project's Director of Photography is Paul Cook. After graduating from Film Studies from University of East Anglia, Paul has built a name for himself in the East of England as one of the top young cinematographers.
His work spans from high-end commercials to feature films and brings attention to detail and passion for the industry to every project he works on.
Paul and his trusted crew will be providing the latest camera and lighting equipment to the project, ensuring that the film will be as engaging visually, as it is emotionally.
He has previously worked with Lesley, Stephan and Teele on various projects, making them a close-knit team.
DIRECTOR OF
PHOTOGRAPHY
Actor Anton Kamillus has previously worked with director Teele Dunkley on several film projects, most notably on 'Metres Apart' where he also closely collaborated with producer Lesley Van Dijk as executive producer. Anton was raised in Paris before moving to London at 11 years of age to pursue his studies, later going on to train acting at prestigious institutions such as RADA and IDENTITY. He started his acting career on stage, more recently shifting his focus on film and television roles in association with AKP Management Agency. Anton is currently filming and due to appear in a major new sci-fi series, produced by Warner Bros. Entertainment and Amazon studios for Prime Video. On top of his acting career, Anton has numerous writing projects in the pipeline, namely an exotic crime-comedy feature film project in partnership with Teele Dunkley. In addition to his role as co-producer, Anton has found it intriguing to lead the casting department in 'Losing Us' where he got to experience the other side of casting decisions.
CO-PRODUCER &
CASTING DIRECTOR
OUR CAST
Losing Us will centre around the lives of our three main characters, but will also have eight other speaking roles, four non speaking roles and numerous extras.
