Amy Leonard’s new short film dives into the messy and awkward nature of sapphic crushes
BY ELLA GAUCI, IMAGES BY NOTICE ME FILM
What’s more awkward than accidentally locking eyes with your gorgeous next-door neighbour having sex? Finding out that said neighbour is also the bartender of the lesbian bar below your new flat…
Starring Francesca Amewudah-Rivers, Daisy Bevan and I Kissed A Girl’s Amy Spalding, Notice Me is a short film dedicated to the awkward, messy and beautiful nature of sapphic love and community. When Em (Amewudah-Rivers) moves to East London to start her podcasting career, she quickly develops a crush on her neighbour AJ (Bevan)… who also happens to be a bartender at the iconic lesbian bar La Camoniera.
Directed by Amy Leonard and exec produced by Lena Dunham, Notice Me is full of humour and heart. Packed into 20 minutes, Notice Me is about much more than just a love story. Within the film, characters discuss the power of community, trans solidarity, compassion and dyke history.
Francesca Amewudah-Rivers steals the show with both vulnerability and comedic timing, showcasing the sometimes painful awkwardness in going after what you want. Many of us have felt like Em at various points of our coming out journey. After all, who hasn’t tried to emulate our crush’s wardrobe to get their attention? Daisy Bevan, who you might recognise from Dunham’s series Too Much, is positively dripping with coolness and charisma throughout.
Notice Me is an odd to sapphic culture in many ways. Amy Spalding, aka dyke royalty, makes her acting debut. Carabiners are not to be missed. A party held to raise money for someone’s top surgery becomes a focal point of the film. Even the setting, in one of the only lesbian bars left in the UK, feels like a warm hug.
Too often, sapphic stories are steeped in tragedy, whether it be from deaths of lovers to hiding in secret. Notice Me is a fun but also powerful story of boldly making your own happiness. And how sometimes love is just one spilt coffee away…
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