The Smell of Cut Grass (2022) is a dreamlike film that captures the quiet ache of queerness, identity and longing. Set over a languid summer afternoon, it follows Jules, a gardener while on a job who finds safety in a household of queer woman. Through its delicate cinematography and elliptical storytelling is an exploration of the fleeting beauty found in chosen queer families and dynamics.

The film established Levi as a filmmaker with a distinctive eye for atmosphere and intimacy. The film remains an important early work in their growing filmography and crystallised many of the themes that define their later work: identity, silence, and the spaces between human connection.

The Smell of Cut Grass (2022) screened at the Prince Charles Cinema in London, in the “Communal Queer Cinema” strand in November 2022 and opened for critically acclaimed films such as Brokeback Mountain (2005), The World to Come (2020) and Ema (2019). With screenings at universities and schools such as London Screen Academy and South Bank University. A year later the film premiered online and garnered a cult following with over 40k views.

credits

• Writer/Director: Levi Eddie Aluede

• Producer: Sarudzayi Marufu

• Director of Photography: Izzie Jones

• Editor: Luke Wale

• Production Designer: Matilda Vidal

• Costume Designer: Amber Bardell

• Sound Mixer: Chantelle Donovan

• Sound Recordist: Alex Rosling

• Cast: Laura Njoku (Jules)

• Cast: Nicole Miners (Hanji)

• Cast: Emily Casey (Nola)

• Cast: Faith Kiggundu (Rei)

• Production Companies: Euras Films

• Assistant Directors: Leon Oteng

• Score by: Damsel Elysium