When the summer came, Gabriel found himself behind a camera for the first time. He and Zak were about to start shooting the movie’s first scene, set in the local market. Ramona was weeping with fear in the clothes Mum had chosen for her, including a pair of high-heeled strappy sandals. Hannah was an extra, shopping in the background and smiling at the camera, as if people back home could see her through it. Carlo was doing the sound, and a couple of Dad’s other pupils were helping with the lights and equipment. Gabriel would edit the film at Jake’s house, on his equipment, with Jake overseeing everything.
At last Gabriel looked through the camera and saw the first scene as he had imagined it. He had rehearsed; the light was ideal and everything was in place.
Archie was calm within, steady and encouraging.
This was the only kind of magic Gabriel wanted, a shared dream, turning stories into pictures. Soon the images would be on film; not long afterwards, others would be able to see what he had been carrying in his mind, these past few months, and he wouldn’t be alone any more.
He checked that everyone around him was ready and raised his arm.
‘Turn over!’ he said. ‘Turn over! And — action!’
Author biography
Hanif Kureishi is the author of novels (including The Buddha of Suburbia, The Black Album and most recently Something to Tell You), story collections (Love in a Blue Time, Midnight All Day, The Body), plays (including Outskirts, Borderline and Sleep With Me), and screenplays (including My Beautiful Laundrette, My Son the Fanatic and Venus). Among his other publications are the collection of essays Dreaming and Scheming, The Word and the Bomb and the memoir My Ear at his Heart.