Javeon 'Give Up' by Ben Strebel

His follow-up to the video for Javeon McCarthy's Lovesong – and the second of five planned films, sees Ben Strebel conjure another fine gritty mini-drama for Javeon's Give Up.

Set in the kitchen of a transport café it explores the fraught relationship of a roguish, immature male trainee chef and his harrassed female superior. It's highly charged, multi-layered, believable - in a seriously unglamourous setting - with excellent performances by Josef Altin and Sarah Smart. And Javeon provides authentic audio texture, on the kitchen radio...

Ben Strebel:

"The idea stems from a conversation I had with Javeon after our first collaboration, Lovesong. We both loved the idea of juxtaposing Katy's epic escape from her wedding and the new setting of a grimy roadside cafe. It seemed like an unexpected start to her new life after the traumatic experience in Lovesong.

"There are three more to come that make up the Javeon quintology. Give Up is slightly separate to the rest of them. It’s more of a self-contained narrative on the side. I wanted to create a simple, intimate story surrounding two characters that exist in the same world that Katy inhabits. A moment in time in a sticky, hot, sweaty kitchen."