Private Project

Busking Turf Wars

For Steven Lockmoore, busking is a way of life. He's worked hard for his place on the street and is passionate about the community he is a part of.

But his world starts to slowly unravel with the emergence of a rival busker, Paul Adrian, who is invading Steven's turf.

Steven has to go on an exploration of what is important to him and what it means to be an artist following your dreams.

  • Peter Trifunovic
    Director
  • Peter Trifunovic
    Writer
  • Christy Coysh
    Writer
  • Mark Trifunovic
    Producer
  • Christy Coysh
    Key Cast
  • Will Tristram
    Key Cast
  • Dominic Doughty
    Key Cast
  • Lisa Franklin
    Key Cast
  • Nick Colquhoun
    Key Cast
  • Project Type:
    Feature
  • Genres:
    Comedy, Drama, Documentary
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 13 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    September 30, 2015
  • Production Budget:
    3,000 GBP
  • Country of Origin:
    United Kingdom
  • Country of Filming:
    United Kingdom
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    2K
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Thin Line Film Festival
    Denton, Texas, USA
    February 19, 2016
    World Premiere
  • ReelHeART International Film Festival
    Toronto
    Canada
    July 9, 2016
    Canadian Premiere
    Christy Coysh - Best Actor Winner, Best Documentary (hybrid) - Nominee, Best Foreign Film - Nominee, ReelHeART Spirit Award - Winner
Director Biography - Peter Trifunovic

Peter Trifunovic is a filmmaker from Leeds, England. After graduating from the Northern Film School Peter worked as a Camera Assistant in film and television, working on such shows as the BBC’s “And Then There Were None”, Sky One’s “Fungus the Bogeyman” and the upcoming film “Hunter’s Prayer” starring Sam Worthington. Despite enjoying the time he spent on set and learning a great deal about the filmmaking process, it was here that Peter acknowledged that his appetite for storytelling would not be sufficiently sated in the camera department. Peter was approached by Leeds band Brawlers to direct a music video for their single “Annabel”; he used it as an opportunity to gain valuable experience blocking and shooting action scenes. Most recently Peter has directed and edited the feature documentary “Busking Turf Wars”, a look inside Leeds’ vibrant busking scene and the characters who populate it. Peter has ambitions of directing again and is keen to explore different elements of genre and form.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

Driven by a desire to shine a light on a hitherto unexplored subculture, and to showcase the musical talent my hometown of Leeds has to offer, I set out to make a documentary about busking. My intention was to follow a number of different buskers, taking a look at their day-to-day routines, their differing musical styles and the challenges they face. In addition to this, I wanted to take the time to get to know them as people as well as performers, drawing influence from such films as Errol Morris’ “Vernon, Florida” (1981) that take the time to dwell on human moments, allowing the audience to find humour and warmth in the mannerisms and foibles of everyday characters.

But everything changed when I met Steven Lockmoore. He was a wholly unique busker, a magnetic performer who, despite having a somewhat questionable amount of talent, had an undeniable abundance of charisma. I took inspiration from fiction writer/directors such as Ricky Gervais and Louis C.K, who fuse comedy with drama to make the process of viewing as rewarding emotionally as it is comedic. The approach lent itself very well to Steven’s character: he is at times hilarious, at other times tragic; at times deluded, at other times brutally aware of himself. We followed him day after day and very soon it became clear that I had no need to present a profile of multiple buskers; in Steven I found all the humour, determination and conflict that I needed to tell a compelling and cinematic story.