FILM PREMIERE: SOPHIE KARL — A Requiem for Desire: From Losing Oneself to Rebirth

On Friday, August 1st, a private screening of Sophie Karl’s film "A Requiem for Desire" took place in London at the Soho Hotel.

The film tells a story of love and the realization that you may not be living your first life — and that, little by little, you begin to feel it in this new incarnation.

Sophie worked in collaboration with visionary director Isaac Lawrence and with the editor Stephen Southouse.

What the premiere felt like and the deeper meanings Sophie and Isaac embedded into the film — as well as its strong and weak points — were discovered firsthand by the founder of Drive Music Media, Asya Radko, who attended the event.

Our team was among the first to arrive and immediately began working. The hall was quiet, with musicians tuning their instruments — two violinists were scheduled to perform at the premiere — while final preparations were being made. Sophie Karl had not yet arrived, as she was upstairs, while the screening room, where the premiere was to take place, was located downstairs.

About ten minutes later, Sophie entered the room, and our team captured the first shots before the main part of the evening began.

Later, guests had the opportunity to take a special photo using the Soiree360events team's camera installation.

Among the guests at the premiere were artists such as Caroline Tod-Richardson, founder of THE EARL’S COURT INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, and Ciro Orsini — renowned Hollywood film producer and founder of the world-famous pizzeria Ciro's Pomodoro.

The crowd kept growing — some were warmly chatting with each other, others were taking photos and enjoying the music. Sophie greeted everyone with joy.

Sophie set out to tell a love story through the lens of reincarnation. The main character — Rose, portrayed by Sophie herself — gradually begins to recall her past life and falls in love all over again with the ghost of Edward, played by Kyle Jordan. The film shifts between the present and a previous incarnation — the use of color and black-and-white inserts creates a sense of time travel.

The technical side of the film turned out to be somewhat weak, with moments of missing focus and abrupt exposure shifts. The black-and-white sequences were by far the most visually compelling. Our founder spoke directly with Sophie about these aspects:

"Stephen Southouse helped do the 1st edit and make sure everything was running as smoothly as possible for the shoot throughout.

Isaac Lawrence was behind the camera.

There were quite a few unfortunate technical issues which I was sadly not made aware of at the time but having Isaac’s relaxed approach during filming did make my time on set feel like everything was under control. And a set where the filming schedule is going according to plan is always a positive point.

In Post production, Paul from the Old Chapel Studios and Steve Massey did an incredible job at fixing all of the sound and image quality issues.

The main issues having been that the camera footage was shaking from the beginning of the film until the end. 

Thank goodness for those 2, who spent hours upon end with me stabilising the footage and fixing the sound making it what it looks like today.

I honestly had never realised how post production was such hard work and how editors are the hidden Directors of a movie.

The way everything changed and was repaired from the footage is an absolute miracle!"

It’s clear that Sophie is happy and deeply inspired by the idea she’s woven into her film. When asked by our founder Asya about her favorite moment in the film, she replied:

"The moment when we realise that reincarnation does exist. The love between those two individuals within the film has been there throughout different lives.

I am a big romantic at heart and a big supporter of love wins overall."

A large number of people contributed to the project. Among the cast who joined the film were Kyle Jordan as Edward, Nina Naustdal as Amber, Mark Hampton as James, Xander Philips as Eric and Albert, Haley Marie Axe as Cherice, and many others.

The crew included Stephen Southouse, Isaac Lawrence, and Ella Dollery, Roger Hyatt while Tequila Carter brought the spirit of the era to life through her styling and presence.

Sophie speaks about Tequila this way:

"Tequila Carter was the main Hair and make up artist throughout the Victorian journey of the film.

Some of those hairstyles she did were incredible."

The premiere began an hour and a half after the Drive Music Media team arrived.

The photographer Danylo Skorobohach, videographer Olena Belizky, and the founder of the media outlet Asya entered the hall before the screening started to capture shots of the empty venue. Everyone was filled with anticipation.

The hall was full. As soon as the lights dimmed, the event host introduced Sophie and invited her to say a few words.

Throughout the entire event, people were constantly connecting and engaging with one another, inspired by the passionate performance of two violinists who had begun playing from the very first moments in the empty hall.

After the film ended, everyone applauded Sophie with loud, heartfelt cheers.

Pictures were taken by Danylo Skorobohach. The video were filmed by Olena Belizky