Billy Elliot - recreating that one scene

All image and artwork rights reserved to ©Alexandrina Birsan

David, a talented film director, editor, and dear friend, invited me to a beautiful film studio for a project close to his heart-recreating the iconic jumping-on-the-bed scene from Billy Elliot. I was thrilled to participate, not only for its cinematic significance but also for the personal connection I have with the film.

Billy Elliot is a movie I’ve always loved and resonated with. Growing up in a small town myself where being different was met with mockery rather than celebration, I felt for Billy throughout the film. His journey, aspiring to be a dancer in a rigid, patriarchal English town, mirrored my own experiences of trying to carve out a space for creativity in an environment that resisted it. It explores many important themes as self-expression, class struggle, and breaking gender norms.

I was so lucky to be there to take some fun photos of the process and behind the scenes. I met a lot of incredible people who were also artists of different kinds. We jumped on the trampoline, we laughed, and we had such a great time. The day wasn’t just about capturing a scene, it was about experiencing creativity in its purest form-shared, spontaneous, and full of joy.

Working on a film set was an incredible experience, immersing myself in that world, seeing the collaboration behind the scenes, and capturing the energy of the moment through my lens was so cool. Watching a film set come to life before my eyes was something entirely new for me, and I was in awe of how much work goes into creating just one scene. It gave me a newfound appreciation for the art of filmmaking and made me realise how much I want to explore more the intersection of my cinephile self with my photography. I can’t wait to bring more of my passion for film into my work, finding new ways to merge storytelling and imagery in future projects.