Three Lottery-funded British films and a further five made with British involvement, have been selected to screen at the Cannes Film Festival (12-23 May 2010).

The three British films in the line-up, which have all been supported with UK Film Council funding, are:

• Mike Leigh’s ANOTHER YEAR – screening In Competition;
• Hideo Nakata’s CHATROOM – screening in Un Certain Regard; and
• Stephen Frears’s TAMARA DREW – screening Out of Competition

Other films which have British involvement are:

• Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s LOONG BOONMEE RALEUK CHAAT/UNCLE BOONMEE WHO CAN RECALL HIS PAST LIVES co-produced by UK company Illuminations Films – screening In Competition;
• Doug Liman’s FAIR GAME, co-produced by British writer/producer Jez Butterworth (author of the current hit play Jerusalem) and co-written by Jez and his brother John Henry Butterworth - screening In Competition;
• Woody Allen’s YOU WILL MEET A TALL DARK STRANGER, which shot entirely in the UK on location in London - screening Out of Competition;
• British director Sophie Fiennes's OVER YOUR CITIES GRASS WILL GROW – selected for Special Screenings;
• The opening night film on 12 May will be ROBIN HOOD, directed by Ridley Scott and filmed at Shepperton Studios and on location around the UK for Universal Pictures.

NOTES

 

ANOTHER YEAR is the latest film from double Academy Award® nominated director Mike Leigh (Happy-Go-Lucky), featuring Michele Austin, David Bradley, Jim Broadbent, Phil Davis, Karina Fernandez, Oliver Maltman, Lesley Manville, Stuart McQuarrie, Martin Savage, Ruth Sheen, Imelda Staunton and Peter Wight. Produced by Georgina Lowe, and executive produced by Gail Egan. The UK Film Council awarded £1.2m for production.

CHATROOM is a thriller by acclaimed writer Enda Walsh (HUNGER) and directed by Hideo Nakata (THE RING, DARK WATER). When five teenagers meet online in a chatroom they form innocent friendships, but soon one dysfunctional member of the group singles out the most vulnerable, seizing the chance to erase his own past. Cast includes Aaron Johnson, Imogen Poots and Daniel Kaluuya. Produced by Alison Owen and Paul Trijbits at Ruby Films and Laura Hastings-Smith. The UK Film Council awarded £39,860 (development) and £700,000 (production).

 

TAMARA DREWE, directed by Stephen Frears (THE QUEEN), and adapted by Moira Buffini from Posy Simmonds’s graphic novel and Saturday Guardian strip, TAMARA DREWE is a modern-day take on the Hardy classic FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD and stars Gemma Arterton. It’s a story of love and lust in a rural idyll and the cast also includes Dominic Cooper, Roger Allam, Luke Evans, Bill Camp and Tamsin Greig. A Ruby Films production produced by Alison Owen and Tracey Seaward. The UK Film Council awarded £102,625 (development) and £780,000 (production).

 

Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s LOONG BOONMEE RALEUK CHAAT/UNCLE BOONMEE WHO CAN RECALL HIS PAST LIVES (UK/Thailand/France/Germany/Spain) is produced by British producers Simon Field and Keith Griffiths, Illuminations Films. Suffering from acute kidney failure, Uncle Boonmee has chosen to spend his final days surrounded by his loved ones in the countryside. Surprisingly, the ghost of his deceased wife appears to care for him, and his long lost son returns home in a non-human form. Contemplating the reasons for his illness, Boonmee treks through the jungle with his family to a mysterious hilltop cave - the birthplace of his first life. Support for the film (amongst others) came from FACT (Foundation for Art and Creative Technology), Liverpool and Animate Projects, London.

 

Sophie Fiennes’s OVER YOUR CITIES GRASS WILL GROW (UK/Netherlands/France) bears witness to German artist Anselm Kiefer’s alchemical creative processes and renders as a film journey the personal universe he has built at his hill studio estate in the South of France. Kiefer’s monumental body of work occupies a fascinating place in the canon of late 20th Century art and is now held in museums and private collections internationally. The film is an Amoeba/Kasander/Sciapode production. The UK Film Council previously funded Sophie's 2002 documentary HOOVER STREET REVIVAL and is currently working with her to develop her future project THE PERVERTS GUIDE TO IDEOLOGY.

 

YOU WILL MEET A TALL DARK STRANGER is written and directed by Woody Allen, and is about the lives of a group of people, whose passions, ambitions and anxieties force them all into assorted troubles that run the gamut from ludicrous to dangerous. Starring Naomi Watts, British actor Anthony Hopkins, Josh Brolin and Antonia Banderas, is a Sony Pictures Classics film with US and Spanish financing. Production was based at Ealing Studios and shot entirely on location in London, with a British production team that included co-producer Nicky Kentish Barnes, production designer Jim Clay, 1st assistant director Ben Howarth and hair and make-up designer Sharon Martin.

 

ROBIN HOOD is the latest epic from three times Oscar®-nominated British director Ridley Scott (BLACK HAWK DOWN, GLADIATOR), ROBIN HOOD stars Russell Crowe, Cate Blanchett and the British actor Mark Strong. The Universal Pictures film shot on location at Shepperton Studios and in Surrey, Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, London and Wales, with British production team including director of photography John Mathieson, art director David Allday and costume designer Janty Yates.

 

For more information:

Tara Milne, Press and Public Affairs Officer UK FILM COUNCIL

T: 020 7861 7901

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