Janis Pugh’s Chuck Chuck Baby, Amrou Al-Kadhi’s Layla and Daniel Kokotajlo’s sophomore feature, Starve Acre, are among the eight features selected for Great8, the annual Cannes buyers’ showcase of UK films from emerging directors organised by the British Film Institute (BFI) and British Council.
The showcase, now in its sixth year, presents UK feature films from first and second-time filmmakers to international distributors and festival programmers. It is funded and run by the BFI and British Council, in partnership with BBC Film and Film4.
In preparation for the Marché, unseen footage from all the titles is being introduced by their filmmakers and screened online on May 11 exclusively to buyers and festival programmers, and made available across five different time zones. All the features will be available to buyers during the Cannes Marché (May 16-24).
This year’s line-up includes Screen Star of Tomorrow 2022 George Jaques’ directorial debut Black Dog, a road trip film about grief, love, sexuality and friendship, written by Screen Star of Tomorrow 2022 Jamie Flatters. It is being sold by UK outfit Independent Entertainment and stars Nicholas Pinnock, Ruby Stokes, Paul Kaye, Amrita Acharia and Hattie Morahan.
Another Independent Entertainment title, queer love story Layla, has also joined the line-up. It is the debut feature of 2018 Screen Star of Tomorrow Al-Kadhi, and stars rising names Bilal Hasna and Louis Greatorex. It follows a struggling British-Palestinian drag performer as they fall in love.
Starve Acre is the second feature from Apostasy director Kokotajlo, and is being repped by UK sales outfit Cornerstone Films. It is set in 1970s rural England, and centres on an archaeologist and his partner who unwittingly allow dark and sinister forces into their remote family home. Matt Smith and Morfydd Clark star.
Former projects to take part in the Great 8 showcase include Charlotte Wells’s Aftersun, Rungano Nyoni’s I Am Not A Witch, Michael Pearce’s Beast, Georgia Oakley’s Blue Jean and Rose Glass’s Saint Maud.
Great8 2023 line-up
Black Dog (UK)
Dir. George Jaques
Prods. George Jaques, Ken Petrie, Jamie Flatters, Ian Sharp
Prod cos. Athenaeum Productions, 27 Ten in association with Trademark Films and Sharp House
Cast: Jamie Flatters, Keenan Munn-Francis
Sales: Independent Entertainment
Bonus Track (UK)
Dir. Julia Jackman
Prods. Stephanie Aspin, Campbell Beaton, Helen Simmons
Prod cos. Erebus Pictures in association with Lunapark Pictures and Fortune Films
Cast: Joe Anders, Samuel Small, Jack Davenport, Alison Sudol, Josh O’Connor
Sales: Bankside Films
Chuck Chuck Baby (UK)
Dir. Janis Pugh
Prods. Anne Beresford, Adam Partridge, Andrew Gillman, Peggy Cafferty
Prod cos. Artemisia Films in association with Delta Pictures for BFI, BBC Film, Ffilm Cymru Wales
Cast: Louise Brealey, Annabel Scholey, Sorcha Cusack, Celyn Jones
Sales: The Yellow Affair
Edge Of Summer (UK)
Dir. Lucy Cohen
Prods. Julia Nottingham, Ariadne Kotsaki
Prod cos. Dorothy Street Pictures, BBC Film, BFI
Cast: Joel Sefton-longi, Flora Hylton, Skyer Dennett, Josie Walker, Nichola Burley
Sales: Dorothy Street Pictures, Julia Nottingham
In Camera (UK)
Dir. Naqqash Khalid
Prods. Juliette Larthe, Mary Burke
Prod cos. Pretty Bird, Public Dreams, BBC Film, BFI, Uncommon Creative Studio
Cast: Nabhaan Rizwan, Amir El-Masry, Rory Fleck Byrne
Sales: Together Films
Kneecap (UK-Ire)
Dir. Rich Peppiatt
Prods. Jack Tarling, Trevor Birney, co-producer Patrick O’Neill
Prod cos. Fine Point Films, Mother Tongues Films, Wildcard, BFI (awarding National Lottery funding), Screen Ireland, Coimisiún na Meán, TG4 and Northern Ireland Screen, in association with Great Point Media and Curzon
Cast: Moglai Bap, Mo Chara, DJ Provai, Simone Kirby
Sales: Charades
Layla (UK)
Dir. Amrou Al-Kadhi
Prod. Savannah James-Bayly
Prod cos. Fox Cub Films, Film4, BFI, Significant Productions in association with AUM Group
Cast: Bilal Hasna, Louis Greatorex, Safiyya Ingar, Terique Jarrett, Darkwah
Sales: WME Independent (North America/global), Independent Entertainment (international)
Starve Acre (UK)
Dir. Daniel Kokotajlo
Prods. Tessa Ross, Juliette Howell, Emma Duffy
Prod cos. House Productions, Access Entertainment, BBC Film, BFI
Cast: Matt Smith, Morfydd Clark, Erin Richards
Sales: Cornerstone Films
No comments yet