Burgled

Following is a 1998 British independent neo-noir film written, directed, photographed and edited by Christopher Nolan in his feature film directorial debut. He co-produced the film with his wife, Emma Thomas, and actor Jeremy Theobald. Using a non-linear narrative, it tells the story of an aspiring writer (Theobald) who follows strangers around the streets of London and is drawn into a criminal underworld when he fails to keep his distance. Inspired by a burglary at his London flat, Nolan conceived Following as an "ultra-low budget" film noir and wrote the screenplay around resources at hand. As the crew consisted largely of Nolan's friends, all of whom held full-time jobs, principal photography took place exclusively on weekends across the course of a year. Much of the film was shot in the homes of Nolan's family and friends. Extensive rehearsals enabled scenes to be completed in a minimal amount of takes, which allowed the production to conserve expensive 16 mm film stock. Nolan financed the production himself from his own salary working on corporate videos. Following screened at the 41st San Francisco International Film Festival on 24 April 1998. It was released on DVD and Blu-ray by The Criterion Collection in 2012.