Riz Ahmed had a busy 2016 – The Night Of, Rogue One, Jason Bourne, and The OA, and that’s just what was actually released. He was also in a couple of festival films, one of which received UK distribution and has a first trailer.
In City of Tiny Lights Ahmed plays a private detective who gets involved in a missing persons case. Directed by Pete Travis (Dredd), the film will be released in the UK in April, but has yet to secure U.S. distribution.
Meet Tommy Akhtar (Riz Ahmed), cricket fan, devoted son to an ailing father and deadbeat private eye. He’s got an office above a cab firm, a taste for cigarettes and bourbon, and a finely tuned moral compass that he keeps hidden behind a sharp cynicism. When Tommy walks into his office one morning to find high-class prostitute Melody seeking his help, he’s launched into a story that plays as an utterly original modern noir.
Directed by Pete Travis (Vantage Point, Dredd), Riz Ahmed (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, The Night Of) stars alongside Billie Piper (Penny Dreadful, Secret Diary of a Call Girl, Yerma) as Shelley, Tommy’s long-lost love. The ensemble cast includes Cush Jumbo (Josephine and I, The Inbetweeners) and Roshan Seth (Indian Summers, My Beautiful Laundrette). Rebecca O’Brien (I, Daniel Blake) produces.
Set in West London, CITY OF TINY LIGHTS is co-written by author Patrick Neate, and based on his novel of the same name. It is a unique portrait of contemporary London as a teeming multicultural metropolis where nothing is as it seems.
Following its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival and UK premiere at the London Film Festival, CITY OF TINY LIGHTS will release in UK cinemas on April 7, 2017, courtesy of Icon Film Distribution.
