HIS HOUSE
FEATURE FILM 2020COSTUME DESIGNER — HOLLY REBECCA BARNES
My role: ASSISTANT COSTUME DESIGNER
His House follows two South Sudanese refugees trying to survive in a country that doesn't quite want them. The costume brief demanded restraint: people who arrived with almost nothing, living on donations, unable to carry their history in their belongings.
Research was extensive: speaking with humanitarian workers and South Sudanese communities in the UK to understand how fabric, print, headwraps and beads carry identity, and how that identity fractures under displacement. Bol gradually surrenders to a more British way of dressing. Rial resists entirely. The two arcs run in opposite directions and the costumes track every step.
Much of the wardrobe was sourced from charity shops or made bespoke. I supported the designer across sourcing, fittings, and the considerable volume of makes and repeats a horror production demands.
I also led the Morocco leg of the shoot, heading out ahead of the main unit, running fittings for approximately 200 background artists and managing a further 200 fittings on the day, always in close communication with the costume designer back in the UK before she joined us for that part of the production.
AWARDS
BAFTA Film Award - Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer: Remi Weeks
British Independent Film Awards - Best Director: Remi Weeks
British Independent Film Awards - Best Actress: Wunmi Mosaku
British Independent Film Awards - Best Production Design: Jacqueline Abrahams
British Independent Film Awards - Best Effects: Pedro Sabrosa, Stefano Pepin
CREDITS
Director: Remi Weeks
Writers: Remi Weeks, Felicity Evans, Toby Venables
Cast: Sope Dirisu, Wunmi Mosaku, Matt Smith
Cinematographer: Jo Willems
Production Designer: Jacqueline Abrahams
Art Director: Thalia Ecclestone, Matt Fraser
Hair & Make Up Design: Sharon Martin
Production Companies: Regency Enterprises & BBC Films
Distribution: Netflix
