Private Project

The Knowledge

It’s a dark night in London 1991 and there’s a serial killer on the loose. Two men go about their business oblivious to the dangers at large when fate brings them together in a black taxi.

This seemingly random encounter sparks an escalating feud that leads to a brutal and devastating finale as our loyalties plunge first one way and then the other.

  • Alexander Osman
    Director
    Beneath the Surface, This Little Place in Gospel Oak, Come Home Soon
  • Alexander Osman
    Writer
    Beneath the Surface, This Little Place in Gospel Oak
  • Alexander Osman
    Producer
    Beneath the Surface, This Little Place in Gospel Oak
  • Alberto Corredor
    Producer
    Baghead
  • Stephen Beckett
    Key Cast
    "James"
    HARLOTS, GREED, CASUALTY
  • J K Glynn
    Key Cast
    "Ray"
    JUSTICE LEAGUE, BREAKING BRITAIN
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Genres:
    Thriller, Horror
  • Runtime:
    13 minutes 59 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    January 20, 2019
  • Production Budget:
    7,000 GBP
  • Country of Origin:
    United Kingdom
  • Country of Filming:
    United Kingdom
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Arri Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2.35:1
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • London Short Series
    London
    United Kingdom
    November 14, 2019
    Best Editing
  • Oregon Short Film Festival
    Portland
    United States
    February 22, 2020
    Oregon
    Best International Film
  • Hollywood Blood Horror Festival
    Los Angeles
    United States
    February 1, 2020
    Best Dark Comedy
  • BIFFF
    Brussels
    Belgium
    April 20, 2019
    World Premiere
  • Horror Hounds
    Indianapolis
    United States
    September 7, 2019
    North American Premiere
  • Morbido Film Fest
    Mexico City
    Mexico
    October 31, 2019
    Central American Premiere
  • Portobello Film Festival
    London
    United Kingdom
    September 4, 2019
    United Kingdom Premiere
Director Biography - Alexander Osman

Alexander Osman is a Director known for his work across multiple genres and formats. Highlights include the 'Beneath the Surface', a drama shown at festivals around the world including Ireland’s prestigious Kinsale, IFF Berlin and at Edinburgh’s fringe and ‘'This Little Place in Gospel Oak’, a docudrama which gained wide festival recognition including London Independent Film Festival and Open City Docs. Alexander has a background making brand films for the likes of Jaguar Land Rover, Visit Britain, Monotype and Currys and is an accomplished Creative & Art Director with an MA from St. Martins College of Art.

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Director Statement

What I found most intriguing about the story was the juxtaposition of the characters. I liked how their backgrounds, philosophies and professions were so different and yet they shared the same terrible passion. Working Class Ray, with his encyclopedic knowledge of London Streets and Eton educated, James, Barrister and QC, were in many ways two peas in a rather nasty pod.
I was fascinated to discover how these two opposites might attract, either by chance, cunning, or a little of both. I wanted to know what might they might think of each other and how they would act upon meeting their antithesis?

My goal with the narrative was to keep the audience guessing for as long as possible and to keep their loyalties and allegiances alternating along the way. At first fearing for Ray, the too talkative cabbie, and later sympathising for James, as his bravado fades and he realises his time is up.

The Knowledge
London’s Black cab drivers must pass a test in order to gain a license to work. This test requires them to be able to recall from memory 320 routes across the capital. It includes knowing 60,000 streets, including one-ways and restricted turns, and nearly 100,000 places of note. Taking on average 3 to 5 years to pass, the first route learned is Manor House to Gibson Square. This test is called The Knowledge.

1990s
Britain in the early 90’s was a bleak time with the country in recession and unemployment rising. It was also a decade that heralded great change both in society and technology. In many ways the 90’s can be seen as a pivotal time as the these two key forces began to shape and form the world we live in today.
With both overt and subtle references to the British Class System, education and capitalism our story can been read as metaphor for modern living and the dog-eat-dog existence that propels modern societies’ exponential acceleration towards all-consuming neoliberal ideals.

Technology
On a lighter note our narrative also takes a nostalgic look at some of the period’s burgeoning technologies as well as those they were to replace. With humorous opinions about the durability of technology and prophecies of the App age, audiences are afforded a chance to reflect on how, in a short period of time, they‘ve become such dominant force in our lives.