Ray & Liz

Booze, cigarettes and a giraffe (a cockney laugh) on the margins of English society. A throwback from a time when telephones were coin-operated. Ray, a loner, lives in a tiny council flat. While drowning his sorrows, he sometimes thinks of the past: of life in a red-brick row house in the industrial Black Country, of his estranged wife Liz, and of their son Jason, who they didn’t look after properly. His only pleasure is listening to the radio. This remarkable study of absence marks the feature debut of photographer Richard Billingham. When shooting, he drew on memories of his childhood, which he previously captured in the book of portraits Ray’s a laugh.

Awards: British Independent Film Awards 2018: British Independent Film Award, Douglas Hickox Award. Locarno IFF 2018: Special Jury Prize. Seville European FF 2018: Grand Jury Award. Vilnius IFF 2019: Best film. Lisbon & Estoril FF 2018: Jury Special Prize for Best director. International Cinephile Society Awards 2019: Best picture. Buenos Aires IF of Independent Cinema 2019: Best Cinematography, Best Actress. And many other prizes.