Cannes 2023: the buzz titles from the UK

Altitude Film Sales is warming up buyers for In The Shadows, the true story of the first Somali British professional boxing champion Ramla Ali, with Letitia Wright in the lead role; Anthony Wonke directs. Destry Allyn Spielberg’s viral outbreak horror Please Don’t Feed The Children is also on Altitude’s slate.

Anton has Scott Waugh’s Breakout, which sees Arnold Schwarzenegger return to the action genre. The film, which is produced by Anton alongside Off The Pier, Cindy Cowan Entertainment and Almost Never Films, follows a man’s attempts to break his stepson out of jail.

Bankside Films is representing sales on James Griffiths’ comedy One For The Money, about an eccentric lottery winner, starring Carey Mulligan, Tom Basden and Tim Key. It is produced through Steve Coogan and Sarah Monteith’s Baby Cow. Another comedy on the slate is Ita Fitzgerald’s debut West The Road, starring Imelda Staunton and Hannah Waddingham.

Black Bear International has Guy Ritchie’s untitled action film starring Henry Cavill, Jake Gyllenhaal and Eiza Gonzalez. Ritchie produces alongside Ivan Atkinson and Black Bear International’s John Friedberg. The company is also selling Andrew Patterson’s The Rivals Of Amziah King, a crime thriller set against the backdrop of remote Oklahoma, starring Matthew McConaughey. Black Bear Pictures produces alongside Heyday.

Cornerstone Films is leading with Mike Leigh’s untitled 2023 project — a tragicomic exploration of family relationships in the post-pandemic world. Studiocanal has UK rights and Bleecker Street has acquired North American rights, with the film to shoot later this year. Georgina Lowe produces for Leigh’s Thin Man Films.

Dogwoof is launching Alison Ellwood’s documentary Let The Canary Sing, a look at the life and career of 1980s music icon Cyndi Lauper, and featuring interviews with Boy George, Billy Porter and Patti LaBelle.

Embankment Films will introduce Oran Zegman’s The Upside Of Falling Down to buyers — a love story about a woman who loses her memory in an accident — starring Antonia Gentry and Calam Lynch.

Film Constellation is bringing Isabel Coixet’s Spanish romance Un Amor to the market, about a woman trying to start afresh in a rustic Spanish village; Laia Costa and Hovik Keuch­kerian star. Bonjour Tristesse is another fresh market title; directed by Durga Chew-Bose and based on the cult French novel, it is set amid a summer on the French Riviera and stars Chloë Sevigny, Claes Bang and Lily McInerny.

HanWay Films has Wim Wenders’ 3D documentary Anselm, which world premieres as a special screening in Cannes. Shot over the course of two years, it explores the work German artist Anselm Kiefer. HanWay is also pushing reality TV horror The One, from Kevin Armento and Jaki Bradley, and starring Melissa Barrera, Lana Condor and Nicholas Hoult.

Independent Entertainment is launching Bernard Rose’s Relax, a biopic of revolutionary UK pop group Frankie Goes To Hollywood. It’s A Sin’s Callum Scott Howells stars, and it is produced through Working Title and Independent Entertainment. Independent is also selling Tyler MacIntyre’s Christmas slasher It’s A Wonderful Knife, starring Yellowjackets’ Jane Widdop.

Metro International is leading with Doctor Jekyll, Joe Stephenson’s take on Robert Louis Stevenson’s novella, with Eddie Izzard playing a trans woman in the leading role of reclusive Dr Nina Jekyll.

Mister Smith Entertainment is hoping buyers will get stuck into Directors’ Fortnight premiere Riddle Of Fire, Weston Razooli’s action comedy about three mischievous children who find themselves on an odyssey. Lio Tipton, Charles Halford and Charlie Stover star, with Razooli and Tipton also producing, alongside David Atrakchi and Sohrab Mirmont. Mister Smith is also selling Katie Locke O’Brien’s comedy Hot Mess starring Emma Roberts.

Signature Entertainment is screening footage of Second World War spy thriller The Partisan, starring Morgane Polanski and Malcolm McDowell and inspired by the true story of a Polish spy working on behalf of the British. Signature is also launching romantic comedy Cupid & Me starring Brittany Snow and Cobie Smulders.

Protagonist Pictures has family adventure Flavia De Luce, directed by Bharat Nalluri and starring Isla Gie and Martin Freeman; it follows the escapades of an 11-year-old amateur detective. CAA Media Finance handles the North American sale. Protagonist also has This Time Next Year, a romantic comedy from Nick Moore about two individuals thrust together on New Year’s Eve after a 30-year gap, with cast including Sophie Cookson and Lucien Laviscount.

Rocket Science is bringing the reboot of 1993 action thriller Cliffhanger, with Sylvester Stallone reprising his role of Gabe Walker, and helmed by Ric Roman Waugh (Angel Has Fallen). It is produced by Neal H Moritz’s Original Film, the outfit behind the Fast And Furious franchise, alongside Rocket Science and Stallone and Braden Aftergood’s Balboa Productions.

SC Films International is screening footage from family animation Dragonkeeper — a Spain-China co-production based on the novels of Carole Wilkinson, set in ancient China. Viva Pictures will release in the US in the autumn.

WestEnd Films continues sales on Freud’s Last Session, with Anthony Hopkins, Matthew Goode and Liv Lisa Fries. The drama examines the friendship between the founder of psychoanalysis Sigmund Freud and the writer CS Lewis. CAA co-reps sales. Political thriller Untitled Judo is also on WestEnd’s slate, co-directed by Zar Amir Ebrahimi and Guy Nattiv, about an Iranian judoka who is ordered to fake an injury and lose at the Judo World Championships.

101 Films International continues sales on thriller Frankenstein: Legacy set in 1875 England, a time when graves are being torn up and patients disappear from an asylum. Juliet Aubrey and Michelle Ryan star.

Alief has the market premiere screening of romantic comedy Love Reconsidered, headlined by Sophie von Haselberg and directed by Carol Ray Hartsell. A 30-year-old New Yorker is whisked away to the Hamptons after a chance meeting.

AMP is leading with The Demon Disorder, a horror film about a man haunted by family trauma, which stars John Noble and is directed by Steve Boyle.

Blue Finch Films is selling Raging Grace, a SXSW award-winning horror pic directed by Paris Zarcilla and produced by Chi Thai. An undocumented Filipina immigrant finds her new job has a sinister side. Max Eigenmann leads the cast.

Brilliant Pictures is introducing Timo Vuorensola’s Killtown, a thriller about an investigative journalist following the case of a serial killer in a picturesque town.

Canoe Film is screening feature documentary It’s Coming, directed and produced by Shannon Alexander. It tells the story of a woman who has been seeing supernatural entities since childhood.

Carnaby International continues sales on Connor O’Hara’s Kindling, about a group of friends who return home for a memorable summer. George Somner, Wilson Mbomio, Mia McKenna-Bruce and Conrad Khan star.

Devilworks is introducing horror film Evie from directors Dominic Brunt and Jamie Lundy. A young girl finds a necklace washed up on the sea shore that has a sinister presence attached to it. Holli Dempsey and Michael Smiley star.

Film Seekers is presenting Rebecca Eskreis’s ClearMind, a comedy thriller about virtual-reality therapy gone wrong. The cast includes Rebecca Cres­koff and Rob Benedict.

Film Republic is selling Rolando Colla’s Charlotte, a drama starring Linda Olsansky about a schizophrenic woman on a road trip of self-discovery.

GFM Film Sales has the market premiere of Howard J Ford’s DarkGame, in which innocent victims are forced to participate in a deadly reality gameshow on the dark web. Ed Westwick, Rose Reynolds and Rory Alexander star. Sister company GFM Animation has animation 10 Lives from Chris Jenkins about a rescued cat that has been given a new set of lives, voiced by Mo Gilligan, Bill Nighy, Simone Ashley, Sophie Okonedo and Zayn Malik.

Jinga Films is showing the market premiere of Fabian Forte’s fantasy The Witch Game. Denise Barbara stars as a rebellious teenage girl who must learn witchcraft to save her family from the devil.

Kaleidoscope is introducing Rhys Edwards’ The Rev, a true-crime documentary about a Welsh reverend in the 1980s guilty of abusing and mutilating bodies awaiting burial.

Moviehouse Entertainment is screening The Appleton Ladies’ Potato Race. A woman returns to her small Australian country town determined to instigate some change. Claire van der Boom leads the cast and Lynn Hegarty directs.

Reason8 is introducing buyers to mystery horror Visitors, from Jake Mahaffy. A young woman finds her life upended after she takes a night nurse job at a care facility.

Screenbound continues sales on Gabriel Foster Prior’s sci-fi comedy The Bystanders, about a group of guardian angels with varying degrees of job commitment. Emily Wyatt and Frank Harper star.

Studio Soho is representing international sales on Sadie Frost’s feature documentary Twiggy, that looks at the life and influence of the titular UK model. Studio Soho will release in the UK and Ireland.

• Cannes 2023: the buzz titles from France