Good Morning Lovelies,

Set in Spain, Falsified is the incredible film about one of Spain’s biggest secrets, a group of stolen babies who were known as the 'Los Niños Robados', which is fresh from director Ashley Tabatabai.

Speaking to the blog, Ashley discusses everything to do with the film, how he feels about the audience’s reaction to it and what he hopes for the future of filmmaking…

For those who don’t know, please could you tell us what the film is about?
Sure. In Falsified we follow the journey of a man whose son was stolen at birth and now believes that he has finally found his long lost child. It's over 30 years since the incident and his search has taken him to London where he tries to convince Javier that he is his father. The story is inspired by Spain's stolen babies scandal, Los Niños Robados.

The film is very revealing about the scandal. What made you decide to capture such intimate moments on camera?
We wanted to explore the human dynamic behind the story rather than focus specifically on the scandal itself. As you say, those revelations do naturally come out in the narrative. But, what was compelling to me was this idea of truth and identity, and the experiences of both the father and the son in discovering that for themselves. Our cinematographer, Adam Lyons, did an amazing job of constructing shots that captured that intimacy you mention. Deliberately using distance within the frame to mirror the physical and emotional connection between the two throughout the piece. In essence, starting them apart, and trying to bring them closer together as the story progressed.

How did you find and cast the people that star in the film?
Almost 90% of the cast and crew on this film are people I have worked with before. I'm really grateful for their passion and dedication to the project and the role they played in bringing this story to life. All 3 of the actors in the film, Mitchell Mullen, Julia Leyland and Mike Archer are part of an acting studio called AMAW (Anthony Meindl's Actor Workshop). I studied at the London studio for almost 4 years and Mitch was my teacher. So, to then have him commit to this role in the way he did is a blessing. He's done so much great Screen and Stage work and to get to work with him on Falsified was an unforgettable experience.

Is there a scene in the film that you want audiences to look out for? Why this one?
There's a section in the film where my character, Javier and the father, Henry, are sat side by side on a pew in a church. For me, this is where a lot of the truth for these two people comes out. It's very nuanced and yet raw at the same time. I remember being in the scene and feeling the guarded and messy emotions of Javier, coming up against the yearning desire of Henry. It's interesting to then watch that back and almost experience it in a different way; watching the two express in that moment, yet also almost reliving all the years that had come before it. And to me, that embodies a large part of the real scandal. Families and children spending years trying to uncover the truth. That in spite of the atrociousness of what happened, they still live in hope.

During the making of this film, was there something you learned that you didn’t know before that really interested you? If so, what was it?
This was the first project that I have written. And so that was a great learning experience and an opportunity to break through false ideas of not being able to write. It was a challenge, but yet a great example of just doing the work. It has given me an even greater appreciation for writing and story structure. To the extent that I've been delving into that further, to continue to learn about the art of storytelling via a screenplay. It's been invaluable from an actor's perspective, where I can now appreciate the moments in a script with even more clarity, which helps to inform the choices I make.

What have you been hearing from audiences so far about the film?
Without fail the most common thing we hear back from people is that they never knew about the scandal. And so, it is nice to be able to help shed some light onto something that happened for so long on such a huge scale. The fact that there are an estimated 300,000 known cases (and likely many more unknown) and yet almost no one knows about defies logic.

Finally, can you tell us about anything you are working on next?
I'm currently developing a short called "Without Notice" with Adam Lyons, who was the cinematographer on Falsified. We've collaborated in the past on a few projects and are both big believers in continually creating content and exploring different types of stories and ideas. Beyond that, I feel that there is a feature film version of Falsified that I'd like to develop. For now, the main focus is on enjoying the festival and awards run for the short. That was always the intention from the start. However, as time has progressed, I do have a lot of people telling me that they want to know more about the characters. Largely I think because they also want to know more about the wider aspects of this scandal. Fortunately, I had pieced together a lot of the moments that took place before and after the short. So, we already have the outline of a potential larger piece.