Project Detail

Cuts, No Ifs Or Buts

sarah lewis

Synopsis

Filmed over a 25-year period, CUTS, NO IFS OR BUTS delivers a vital portrait of the low-key, yet world-famous London barbershop ‘Cuts’ – not just a place to get your hair styled but a space for street fashion and pop innovators. Guided by freewheeling founders James Lebon and Steve Brooks who met when one was a Rockerbilly and the other a New Romantic, the salon moved from early 80s post punk roots to become a communal hub for DJs, photographers and style icons, an influencer in the analogue age. The film allows us to bear witness to the passing of time and the profound and often tragic personal change in the hairdressers' lives within the wider context of change in the UK's political and cultural landscape. It highlights the themes of family and creativity and is an anthem of the promise of youth and the friendships that endure (or not) over a lifetime.

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Details

Year: 2025
Type of project: Features
Running time: 107 min
Format: 16mm, Super 8, UHD, HDV, DV, iphone, mov
Director: Sarah Lewis
Producer: Sarah Lewis, Anna Hashmi
Co-Producer: Jenny Selden
Executive Producer: Anna Hashmi, Tyrone Lebon, Michael Kopelman, Giorgio de Mitri
Editor: Sarah Lewis, Anne Perri
Director of Photography: John Hoare, Sarah Lewis, Dave Roman, Tim Potter, Raul Prado
Sound: Steve Anderson, Gary Cummings, Aidan Hobbs, Roger Johnson, Rory Rooney

Production Status

Post-production

Production Company

A Felt Culture Ltd (UK), The Corner Shop (US) production

Felt Culture Ltd

info@feltculture.com

Sales Company

DoBeDo

7 Atlas Mews
Off Ramsgate Street
London
E8 2NE
UK

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Filmed over a 22 year period, NO IFS OR BUTS delivers a portrait of Soho barbershop, Cuts, an iconic London hub for street fashion and pop innovators. Guided by freewheeling founders James Lebon and Steve Brooks, who met when one was a rockabilly and the other a New Romantic, the salon moved from early ’80s postpunk roots to become a hip-hop club and communal hub for DJs, photographers and style icons. But the film "is not just about the haircut", delivering an intimate portrait of Steve struggling with a traumatic past that threatens to derail the Cuts universe. The film traces profound and often tragic change in the hairdressers' lives within the wider context of the UK's political and cultural landscape- an anthem to the promise of youth and the friendships that endure over a lifetime. Official Selection BFI London Film Festival 2018 - World premiere

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