Tony Kaye Directs Leicester Monster Short 'Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?'

Tony Kaye, director of "American History X," starts shooting a five-minute short in Leicester, England, this Friday. The film, "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?," blends documentary with reality drama and unfolds among the giant monster sculptures installed across the city center.

Hiu Man Chan, a film entrepreneur and academic in creative industries at De Montfort University, produces. The project pairs Kaye with up-and-coming actors and filmmakers from the university and Leicester's wider creative scene, and the production takes an experimental, collaborative route. Louis Lingjaerde ("Vipers") is the cinematographer.

The narrative will take shape around the chosen cast and participants, with the camera catching chance encounters and real human experiences. The film asks whether people can come to understand and love each other across their differences.

Where did the monsters come from?

The short takes its setting from Leicester Monsters, a downtown program run by BID Leicester (a business improvement district body) that has placed oversized creatures on the city's streets and in its public spaces to coax visitors into exploring the center. Bristol-based Designs in Air installed the monsters.

Kaye has a personal history with the title. "Forty years ago, I made a commercial for solid fuel in which a dog, a cat and a mouse kissed each other in front of a real coal fire, to the music of 'Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow.' I've never forgotten that image," Kaye said. "Now, with the Leicester Monsters movie, I find myself returning to the same idea. Perhaps the universe is the real coal fire, and we are all just animals gathered around it, trying to work out how to love one another. The question is as simple as it is impossible: how can we all get along, forever?"

Leicester is often described as one of the most diverse cities in the U.K. The film will use that mix, with giant creatures popping up around town as a surreal backdrop, to probe the pull between difference and belonging, and between freedom and commitment.

Chan frames it as both craft and packaging. "I am passionate about the most important human feeling – love – in storytelling, as well as packaging unique projects like this to challenge conventional filmmaking," she said. "I look forward to this creative journey with Tony, one of Britain's greatest talents, and to put the city of Leicester in motion."

Why Kaye's history matters here

Kaye's first feature, 1998's "American History X," tackled racism and redemption and earned Edward Norton an Oscar nomination for best actor. His 2011 film "Detachment," starring Adrien Brody, took two prizes at the Deauville American Film Festival – the Critics' Award and the Revelation Prize – and won the Tokyo International Film Festival's Best Artistic Contribution Award. He also directed the 2006 documentary "Lake of Fire."

The release of "American History X" was famously fraught. Kaye fell out with New Line Cinema and Norton over the edit, and the theatrical version, which Norton had a hand in cutting, ran longer than Kaye's original 95-minute cut. Kaye spent around $100,000 on dozens of ads in the Hollywood trades, Variety among them, some of which attacked Norton and the studio. The Directors Guild of America turned down his request to swap his directing credit for a pseudonym, among them "Humpty Dumpty." Kaye later sued the guild and New Line for $200 million; a court dismissed the case in 2000.

He returned to the saga in "Humpty Dumpty X," a 74-minute documentary built from camcorder footage he shot during the dispute, including phone calls with studio executives. The film, which also features Marlon Brando, world premiered in the Spotlight Documentary section of this year's Tribeca Festival.

Outside features, Kaye built his reputation in music videos and commercials. His ad work spans:

• Nike's "Kick It"
• Volvo's "Twister"
• Dunlop's "Tested for the Unexpected"
• A run of InterCity campaigns for British Rail
• The "Furry Friends" spot for solid fuel

That last credit explains the new short's title. A director who once spent $100,000 attacking his own studio now spends five minutes asking how we can all get along, forever. The monsters are waiting.