Olympus Lost
Written & Directed by Amadeus Redha
Produced by Cherene Bracegirdle-Smith
Now a mortal, the wrathful Greek God Zeus faces his greatest challenge to date: assembling a piece of flat-pack furniture.
ABOUT THE FILMMAKER
Amadeus Redha is an Iraqi-British, BIFA-qualifying Writer-Director based in London. He has been shortlisted in the 2024 BAFTA Rocliffe competition, the Netflix Screenwriters Fellowship, and the BBC Writersroom. As a Middle Eastern man that grew up in a working class community in London, he cares deeply about representation and has a vested interest in creating films that tell optimistic, hopeful stories – ones that show us a better version of what the world could be. His short film, The Rally (2024), has been selected at the BAFTA-Qualifying Aesthetica Film Festival, and his short film Olympus Lost (2025), won Best Comedy at Stamford International Film Festival. His next short film, Hazard Perception (2026), starring Aidan Cheng (Netflix’s You and Three Body Problem) has just begun the festival circuit. His feature film, Paradise By Way of Jordyn, was awarded £3000 in development funding from CenterFrame and has previously been pitched to Film4 as well as Joi Productions.
READ OUR INTERVIEW WITH AMADEUS
Welcome to our Weekly Pick! Obviously, you're no stranger to Kino since Olympus Lost won our short film fund in 2024, but can you tell our audience a bit about your background and what got you into filmmaking?
I've always been into films and a film lover since I can remember. But mostly as a viewer. Then one day I decided to take a screenwriting course in 2020 after doing a short 'intro to screenwriting' course as a bit of a fun side hustle. And that side hustle turned into a bit of an obsession. So I wrote a feature script. Wrote several shorts, one of which ended up getting made and being BIFA-qualifying. And at that point I got the itch to try something new and direct. So I decided I would go full guns blazing with this wacky idea I had about a Greek God trying to build a piece of flat-pack furniture. And here I am now!
You've since gone on to make more shorts, but Olympus Lost was your debut. Oftentimes first time filmmakers struggle to find a good producer, but you seem to have hit the jackpot by getting Cherene onboard. Can you chat about how your creative collaboration came about?
I really did hit the jackpot with Cherene! This came about in a really weird way. Just as I decided to try my hand at directing, I knew I'd need a producer to actually bring this project to life. And at the same time, I was a member of a filmmaking WhatsApp group, where someone had forwarded this directory of UK-based Producers. I scanned through the list to see if anyone would be a good fit for Olympus Lost, and alongside Cherene's name it had 'comedy' and 'mythology' as interests. I couldn't believe my luck. So I cold emailed her. She liked the project. We hopped on a call. And the rest is history. We're now on our 4th project together ... thank you random online WhatsApp directory.
Tell us about how the project came to be a Kino Original. How did you find the process of applying for (and eventually winning) funds from us?
We'd raised a bit of money from our own pockets and through a crowdfunding campaign. But that wasn't enough to get the project over the line. We had a financing gap we needed to close. Thankfully, we knew about Kino (via Genera), and applied for the funding. And we were super specific in our ask. We had everything in place short of a final bit of funding, along with camera kit as well. And I think that worked to our favour since we won it in the end. All in all, a super straightforward, super fun process.
Once Kino was onboard, how did this change the trajectory of your project?
I guess it's not an exaggeration to say we couldn't have done the project without Kino. Kino provided us with brilliant kit, some funding, but also guidance and supervision. We didn't have a DIT on the day, so got help with that. We had NO idea what we were doing when it came to the festival circuit and we got a lot of help on that. Simply put, without Kino, we wouldn't have a film.
Let’s chat about Olympus Lost finding its audience. You dipped your toe into the festival circuit, but instead of waiting for external validation, you also took matters into your own hands and did something quite unique with your Best of British Comedy screening. Can you chat about that?
This was also a bit of a harebrained idea that just took full flight. We wanted to run our own premiere and screening – mostly to help try and raise funds for our festival circuit. But also because we knew we could do it. So Cherene and I built this 'Best of British' ticketed event – showcasing Olympus Lost as a premiere alongside some fantastic, multi-award winning comedy shorts. We had a 150-person cinema. We branded the whole thing. Got a presenter. Recorded interviews with each director. Sold every ticket (we had a waitlist by the end) and just put on a bloody good show for everyone.
What's next for you?
I've currently just started the festival circuit with Hazard Perception, my latest short (also with Cherene!) and that got into our first BIFA-qualifying festival last weekend, which was great. So hoping to see where that one ends up. And I've got 2 other shorts on the go – both in the financing stage and waiting to hear back from the powers that be that can make either one happen. And then it's straight on to features!
And last, but not least? Any film recommendations for our audience?
Everybody Wants Some!! by Richard Linklater. Totally low stakes, slacker movie set in a college dorm in the 80s. If you're nursing a hangover, anxiety, sadness, go watch this film it'll cheer you right up. This was Glen Powell before Glen Powell got big and inundated us with his screen presence.
