You have to make a film and make it interesting, so you can't have a shot of you cleaning your teeth just because you did that. It's boring!

I suppose my dream was always about existing outside of London. Obviously the film world 10 years ago, when I first kicked off, was a very different landscape. Meeting anyone for a job on the crew, and on the cast, always meant a trip to London for me. But it's changed quite dramatically. You can't completely exist outside of what's down there, but things have changed massively.

Every kid comes to a point in his life, where you listen to your Dad, but then you go into the street and you start listening to the views of other people. You're looking for role models. It's like that moment when you step out.

In the Eighties, the landscape was changing. No one knew if they had a future. It's not like now. There was no satellite. Kids were still out on the streets playing all the time. For me, it was the last great hurrah! People don't take those chances anymore. Everyone's far too reserved. Men look like women, women look like men.

Bullying and violence that exists in someone can also be inherent in a nation without us knowing it.

The violence at the end is about personal torture.

I'm obviously first and foremost a British filmmaker on a global scale, but when it comes to narrowing it down, I really feel like my voice is in the Midlands and outside of London.