Premiere: “Little Brother” by Callum Cooper

Australian filmmaker Callum Cooper has finally released his wonderful film, “Little Brother,” online after ten years! The short follows a teenage boy named Kola (Ola Alexander) who uses his hearing impairment to escape from his daily routine, and the responsibility of looking after his wheelchair-bound younger brother (Tolani Oni). Cooper wrote the script in collaboration with the Oni family after meeting them through the local community theatre workshops he volunteered at while studying at The Royal College of Art.

“Little Brother” originally premiered at the Sundance Film Festival back in 2011. At the time Cooper hesitated to release the project on the internet out of respect and concern for the family involved. However, now that the kids are grown, the family is keen to share the film with friends. Cooper also hopes this online release will help promote Hackney Shed — the organization that brought him and the Oni family together in the first place. In terms of what inspired him initially, Cooper states:

“There is something beautifully honest about families with special needs children. I think being under constant public scrutiny you are forced to be less self-conscious and to adopt a matter of fact attitude about life.”

The scene at the pool stuck with us all these years—really excited to share the film here now! Watch “Little Brother” above and see full credits below!

Starring
Ola Alexander
Tolani Oni
Olabisi T Oni
Darren Anthony Moore

Written, Produced & Directed by Callum Cooper
Cinematographer: Michael Latham
Camera Assistant: Chris Paul Daniels
Sound Recordist: Kelvin Brown
First AD: Ana Tiquia
Cinematographer: Leigh Alner
Camera Assistant: James Winterflood
Camera Operator: Garath Harfoot
Gaffer: Sam Heasman
Sound Recordist: Mike Lee Taylor
First AD: Jan Lun Lee
Stills Photographer: Ana Tiquia
PlayBack: Veselina Dashinova
Bus Driver: Martin Bennet
Editor: Anna Meller
Colourist/Grader: Chris Teeder
Sound Designer: Sandy Milne & Callum Cooper
Titles/Credit Design: Mark El-Khatib
Poster, Press Design: Ray O’Meara
Dubbing Mix: Jay Price
Assistant VFX: Sarah Beeby
Executive Producer: M Bobby Kapur

Puppetry:
Aggeliki Polatou
Jean Hammond
Kate Moore
Osun Bramble
Klaus Robert
Peter Provis
Tessie Dowling
Kola Oni
Gibril Sonco
Bianca Darlington
Yang Jiwon
Wendy Cook
Dan Ojari
Liz Le Drew

Thanks to:
Edith Rae Bennett Traveling scholarship
Graham Pryor at Panavision UK
John Grey at SohoFilm Labs
London School of Puppetry
Rebecca Rau at Kodak UK
Nat Cohen Scholarship
Ana Tiquia
Lucie Kalmar
Hackney Shed/Risk Sound
Phil Shafe at Metroline Bus
Paul Zeal at Parliament Hill Lido
Richards O’Mahony at Royal Parks
and the staff and students at RCA
Color grade- Soho Film Labs and Ascent 142
Audio Mix- Risk Sound Melbourne
Audio Master- National Film and Television School
35 print- Technicolor UK
35 Audio- Dolby UK