THE DESEALER

James Clayden's startling new work is an incursion into an intense episode of mental distress. A young man (Luke Ryan) walks into an empty buildingundergoing reconstruction. He is told he must leave the site for safetyreasons. Confused, he tries to explain to a group gathered in discussion that this is the hotel he has been living in for the past eight weeks. They tell him he must be mistaken, as it has been in this state for over twelve weeks, awaiting permits for rebuilding, and he's escorted from the building.

When a young woman (Meg White) from the group mentions she has a spare room he could use for a couple of nights until he gets his bearings, he takes herup on her offer, but the material comforts his lodgings provide are notenough to alleviate his troubles. Drawing the viewer into its post-traumatic, troubled world, this isundoubtedly, unashamedly challenging filmmaking - which is nothing less thanthe subject requires. Ultimately, though, it has a quality of combined empathy and artistry, unique to Clayden's work, that is not only entrancingbut deeply emotional.

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D/P/S James Clayden TD video/2006/50mins