Mark Tonderai on Hush

Writer-director Mark Tonderai was on the brink of giving up filmmaking when he got his break. He tells us about pitching at parties, filming on the M1 and explains why a good story relies on asking the right questions

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Hush is the feature debut from writer-director Mark Tonderai. The psychological thriller has recently wrapped, and is part of collaboration between Warp X and Film4. A number of low budget films have been produced with rising British talent, including Donkey Punch and A Complete History Of My Sexual Failures which are due to premiere at this year's Sundance Film Festival.

Starring newcomers Will Ash and Christine Bottomley, Hush has Mark Herbert producing, who previously worked with Shane Meadows on This Is England, and Robin Gutch, who produced Touching The Void, as well as Tonderai's partner Zoe Stewart, with whom he founded Shona Productions. The film follows a couple, Zakes and Beth, as they drive home along the M1. When Zakes sharply avoids an accident with a white van he is chased by its driver. As the couple's car is overtaken the tailgate lifts up to fleetingly reveal a woman bound and bloodied in the back. They stop at a service station, and after an argument, Beth goes missing.

Warp X has said that Hush, in the great tradition of horror movies, investigates today's culture and the fears and neuroses that can arise from it. What was your thinking behind making this film?

I think all good films ask something about human nature. That's how I like to write. I start with the fundamental question. I decide what I am asking. And for Hush it is, where is the line between social responsibility and self interest?

We live in a 'walk on by' culture. I began to think about this after a particular incident. I was on a bus, and a guy shouted 'nigger' at me. No one said anything to him. I got off the bus and confronted him, but everyone else kept schtum. I am interested in this hush. It was something I wanted to talk about. Another time, I was with my wife and we saw a girl crying in the street. I asked her if she needed any help and she told me to 'fuck off'. It got me thinking about when is it right to get involved?

I pitched this film at parties, asking people what they would do in those situations. Most said they would pretend they hadn't seen anything. Not that they were cowards; they were worried they would get attacked. Everything these days seems to be at a different pitch.

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