REVIEW - Can I Be Honest (Directed by Aziah Lusala)

As student of the Royal College of Art in London and a hardworking multidisciplinary artist, Aziah Lusala has become prolific on the art and design festival scene, participating in several art exhibitions; including at the London Design Festival, Rochester Art Fair, Fleet Art Fair, and the London Art Collective. Now, after years of honing his artistic skills and talents Lusala is set to make waves on the film festival circuit telling his own story with his debut documentary, entitled 'Can I Be Honest'.

Touted as a documentary in the genres of 'crime' and 'art', this is a biopic feature, which candidly chronicles a complex journey of growth and maturation in the face of crime, hardship, and adversity. A plethora of compelling talking heads, are used to tell the story; including childhood friends, colleagues and co-workers, and also his art teachers, which heightens the sense of realism and adds depth and meaning to the narrative.

Writing, producing and directing this work himself, Lusala also features prominently in what is essentially an autobiographical film focusing on a very specific aspect of his life - the journey of becoming an accomplished artist and what one might call a well-connected networking genius while having to navigate his way from a life of crime, to a life behind bars, to a life outside in Civvy Street, and then back again! A knock-back like that - a serious prison sentence - would probably spell the end of the journey for most people, but not Lusala, who tackled it as a simple case of two steps forward, one step back - merely another obstacle among the many he had already overcame.

So, armed with an innate steely determination, cunning, and tenacity, 'Can I Be Honest' bears testament to Lusala's journey - a raw and gritty factual movie including real footage filmed inside UK prisons, on contraband mobile phones which presumably would not be so easy to obtain, were it not for Lusala's charisma and connections.

We see Lusala strive to be the role model for others that he never had himself, to become the best version of himself that he could possibly be, to rehabilitate, and to heal. In doing so, we witness him bear the responsibility of showcasing the works of many other artists, and taking this incredibly seriously while having to be extremely generous and charitable in order to even begin to realise the exhibition and community focused art spaces he had dreamt of - running his own art organisation called Contemporary Art Studios, working with artists from Africa and the UK, financing everything himself, and making sure none of his collaborating artists bore any costs whatsoever - ultimately creating events and exhibitions which, in terms of success and impact, one might easily argue were/are far greater than the sum of their parts.

Charting the highs and lows of his journey, the viewer is invited to ride shotgun on that very journey, as Lusala picks himself up after each fall, en route to growing and succeeding as an artist, acheiving the respect of his peers, and even straying into the arena of live performance art, orchestrating some impressive publicity stunts as an outsider artist, and eventually putting on his own solo events and exhibitions.

Sometimes a giving the viewer a glimpse of the harsh and grim underbelly of life, 'Can I Be Honest' does however, not wallow in this, and is overall a heartwarming story of resilience and determination, forging connections and friendships, learning and growing, and hope. This film will be enjoyed by fans of factual movies and documentaries with interests in outsider art, and the rehabilitation of ex-prisoners.

Scored 7/10 by MegaFlix Movie Awards.