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Sebastian

Sebastian

MIKKO MÄKELÄ | UNITED KINGDOM | 2023 | 111 MIN | ENGLISH FST

MIKKO MÄKELÄ | UNITED KINGDOM | 2023 | 111 MIN | ENGLISH FST

FeatureCOMPETITION

Synopsis

Determined to breathe new life into the queer stock character of the sex worker, budding writer Max (masquerading as Sebastian) becomes a “digital hustler” while bathing in the words of Bret Easton Ellis. What starts out as novel fodder becomes a high-stakes balancing act between liberation and exploitation. Close-lipped and leery of scrutiny, even the publicness of social media, “wholesome boy next door” Max (Ruaridh Mollica) is able to act out his “desire to taste everything” in London bedrooms. First with older men, including the kind and curious Nicholas (Jonathan Hyde), then with more daring configurations. But when shame unexpectedly creeps into his initial, unfettered view of the sex trade, Max finds everything from his book proposal to his very sense of self tested. Before he lets his obsession with how he’s perceived subsume him, he must decide what kind of writer he will be, what kind of lover, what kind of man. His finger on the cultural pulse, Indiewire’s LGBTQ+ Filmmaker on the Rise Mikko Mäkelä (A Moment in the Reeds, I+N31, 2018) pits the coldness of market forces against the beating of a warming heart to see which—in the 21st century—will endure.

Trailer

Filmmaker Bio

Mikko Mäkelä is a Finnish-British writer/director based in London, named by IndieWire as an LGBTQ+ Filmmaker on the Rise. Their microbudget feature A Moment in the Reeds screened at almost 100 festivals worldwide. Mikko’s second feature Sebastian had its World Premiere at Sundance in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition. Mikko is an alumnus of Berlinale Talents as well as the inaugural BIFA Springboard Programme sponsored by Netflix. He is the co-founder of Bêtes Sauvages and also produces alongside partner James Watson.

Producer

James Watson

Writer

Mikko Mäkelä

Cinematographer

Ikka Salminen

Cast

  • Ruaridh Mollica
  • Hiftu Quasem
  • Jonathan Hyde
  • Ingvar Sigurdsson
  • Stella Conet
  • Leanne Best
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