Filmmaker Statement

Rave culture has just begun. Three friends experience love, sex and drugs in the summer of 89'. The second summer of love. Welcome to the party. Raheem (The Second Summer of Love) is a short drama set during the early days of UK rave culture in 1988–89. Against the backdrop of a rapidly emerging underground movement, the film follows three young people from vastly different backgrounds who are brought together through the music and freedom of the rave scene. Raheem, a young black man grappling with his sexuality; Koop, a former nationalist skinhead finding himself drawn away from the ideology of his past; and Allie, a restless teenager discovering independence for the first time. As the movement grows, the unlikely trio form a fragile bond that challenges their identities, loyalties and sense of belonging. Spanning the early years of rave, the film explores youth, subculture and the unexpected friendships born out of a moment that briefly reshaped British social life. — Director /