If any indie horror is picking up major buzz this year, it’s Censor – the directorial debut of filmmaker Prano Bailey-Bond. Her first feature is a horror movie about horror movies, starring Niamh Algar as film censor Enid working in the video nasties era, whose quest to find out what happened to her missing sister causes the edges of reality and fiction to blur. It’s picked up major awards chatter, and as a scary movie it’s one to catch with an audience – an experience even the filmmaker herself hasn’t been able to have yet.
“There’s a dual excitement about the release – people getting to see it, but also being able to be in a cinema, actually going places. I haven’t seen the film yet with an audience, I haven’t done an in-person Q&A yet,” Bailey-Bond tells Empire in the British New Wave issue. “So it feels extra exciting because you’re emerging from this surreal year. I don’t think my brain’s digesting it yet.”
With all the attention Censor has received even before its wide release, Bailey-Bond’s future looks bright. It’s not a question of whether she has another story to tell, but which one she wants to tell first. “There have been a lot more meetings, with really great companies,” she says of her recent months. “The problem is having the time to do everything. I’ve got so many films in my head that I’m excited about making. I just need to work out how I can write them all. You want to be making everything happen.”
This month’s issue of Empire is a massive celebration of The British New Wave, showcasing 26 incredible directors, writers and actors driving cinema into a new era. On the cover, you’ll find Bukky Bakray, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Emerald Fennell and Riz Ahmed – and the issue also features major new interviews and exclusive new photo shoots with stars such as Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù, Olivia Cooke, Jessica Yu Li Henwick, Olly Alexander, Weruche Opia, Morfydd Clark, Jessica Yu Li Henwick, and Henry Golding, and writers and directors including Krysty Wilson-Cairns, Billie Piper, Remi Weekes, Kate Herron, Francis Lee, and Rob Savage.
Find a copy on newsstands from Thursday 10 June, or pre-order the new issue online here. Censor is coming to UK cinemas later this year.