The story of Shmilu, a young Hasidic Jew who embarks on a huge deviation from his life path, with samuel-613 director Billy Lumby has once again created a inimitable film experience with a distinctly British feel. Aiming to create a relatable experience, whilst also exploring a community not often covered in the world of filmmaking, Lumby wraps universal themes of identity and rebellion in his unique on-screen universe, to create a film as powerful as it is individual.

With his filmmaking approach focusing on “always to try and do something different”, Lumby decided to point his gaze at the London’s Hasidic Jewish Community because of the lack of more mainstream storytelling surrounding their culture. “I was immediately struck by their amazing appearance and pious behaviour” Lumby admits, “it seemed a bizarre juxtaposition in the middle of trendy Hackney. And of course there are parallels with Brooklyn too – Hasids and hipsters on each other’s doorsteps, united by their love of beards. I realised fairly soon that I wanted to make a film about someone making the leap between those two worlds, and after research it became clear that leaving the community was a social issue too”.

“I also went ‘undercover’ to meetings and synagogues a few times, sometimes very embarrassingly found out.”

Despite being a work of fiction, providing a true representation of the sub-section of society he committed to screen was something that played a huge role in Lumby’s development of samuel-613. Spending months working on entry points to the close-knit community, the filmmaker spent chunks of his pre-production time speaking to individuals online, before he could actually get to speak to them face-to-face. “I met religious members”, says Lumby, “and also others that had left or been ostracised. Believe it or not, I also went ‘undercover’ to meetings and synagogues a few times, sometimes very embarrassingly found out…People anonymously helped me with the script, I drew on their stories and inspiration, and eventually some Hasidic non-professional actors came on-board – it was very important to make at least some of the film in Yiddish, to give it a genuine flavour. We filmed in a Hasidic home, and on the streets of Stamford Hill. The locals often mistook our actors for real Hasidim, checking whether they were ok or if we were hassling them, which was a pleasing sign that the makeup and costume department were doing their job.”

Whilst it’s fair to say that the aesthetic of samuel-613 probably doesn’t stand out as strongly as that of his previous film God View, once again it feels like Lumby is a filmmaker that gives great consideration to how he approaches the specific look and feel of each individual piece he produces. Opting to shoot with both digital and analogue cameras (Alexa and Super8) after discussions with his DP Paul Özgür, the pair aimed for a documentary-styled shoot to bring a level of credibility to their film. “We choose a handheld, documentary-style”, says Lumby, “the camera reacting to the events unfolding – to bring out the realism as much as possible”.

With God View and samuel-613 released just months apart it feels as if we’ve gone from knowing very little about the work of Billy Lumby, to becoming a little fixated with his work – it’s not often a filmmaker will release two films so different, yet equally memorable, in such a short timeframe. As the main UK-based writer here on Short of the Week, strong British filmmaking voices are something I always try to champion and support on our site and with Lumby it feels like we’ve unearthed something very special and we’re truly excited to see how his voice develops over the coming years. Currently “researching and writing a feature film about psychosis”, if like us you’re passionate about Billy’s filmmaking, keep an eye on his website for new work.