Dark Male Prostitution Tale 'Trent 2 Rent' Marks Directorial Debut

Cassius Matthias is to present his directorial debut drama, ‘Trent 2 Rent’.
Made on a shoestring budget, ‘Trent 2 Rent’ is a darkly comic, razor sharp tale set in South London. It uncovers the sophisticated and organized underworld of male prostitution: a chaotic world where alarmingly the risks of AIDS and HIV and other STD’s are often ignored in favour of the overriding power of - and desire for - money.
Coinciding with National Gay and Lesbian Month, the invited audience will have an opportunity to join in on a discussion around the many diverse and complex issues affecting not only sex workers – both male and female – but also the local communities of cities and town centers across the world.
After extensive research under the guidance of a male and transgender sex workers’ support group, together with an outreach network for alcohol and drug-related harm organisation, Matthias has created a story that succeeds in educating and entertaining audiences about the little-known and mysterious world of male prostitution. Among many other things, his research revealed the striking fact that a large majority of the punters who buy sex are closeted, married males with children usually in their 40’s and 50’s.
Birthplace to celebrated filmmaker David Lean and fashion icon Kate Moss as well as psychological illusionist, Derren Brown and guitarist, Jeff Beck, the South East London borough of Croydon was chosen for the film’s location. Working closely with the Croydon Film Commission, Matthias has managed to capture a different side of so-called unfashionable Croydon, highlighting its rich social and cultural history through its architecture while at the same time blending its vital homegrown, contemporary urban music scene with a yearning classical soundtrack inspired by Croydon’s forgotten son, the great 19th Century composer, conductor and black civil rights activist Samuel Coleridge-Taylor.
Matthias, director and screenwriter, and former PA to director Anthony Minghella, said: “My aim was to write a story that touches on the different aspects of prostitution that cut deep and affect the emotional lives of many prostitutes and their clients and to show how easy it can be to slip into a scene or a way of life from which it is very difficult to escape.”
(DS)