We're used to seeing Aml Ameen in front of the camera, for films such as Yardie, The Maze Runner and Beyond The Lights. He's stepping behind it for his directorial debut, Christmas-set romantic comedy Boxing Day.
Ameen co-wrote the script with Bruce Purnell and will also star. Inspired by his own life, the film is described a celebration of love and family through a black-British lens. It follows Melvin (Ameen), a British author living in America who returns home to London for Christmas to introduce his American fiancée Lisa (Aja Naomi King) to his eccentric British-Caribbean family. Their relationship is put to the test, as she discovers the world her fiancé has left behind.
"It is such an honour to be teaming up with Warner Bros. Pictures, Film4 and BFI to bring Black British Culture to the world in this universal holiday rom-com. It’s long been a dream of mine to capture films that reflect the wonderfully multi-cultural city that raised me while sharing stories from the diary of my life," says Ameen in a statement. We'd expect it to arrive nearer next Christmas.