EXCLUSIVE: Fast-rising UK director Clio Barnard [pictured], who has been earning rave reviews for her Quinzaine entry The Selfish Giant, is to direct The Trespass, an adaptation of the novel by Rose Tremain. 

The new film is being made through Left Bank (the outfit behind The Queen). Barnard will write and direct.

The Left Bank team producing The Trespass will be Suzanne Mackie (Calendar Girls), Lila Rawlings (who recently joined Left Bank from Film4) and Andy Harries (The Queen).

The Trespass is a multi-layered and complex story and we knew we would need a very delicate and refined film-maker to make the novel work on screen. As soon as I saw The Arbor I was blown away by Clio’s sensitivity as a director and when we suggested her to Film4 we knew we had found our screenwriter and director. The moment Clio read the book she knew she wanted to make the film,” commented Suzanne Mackie, Left Bank Pictures head of film.

The Trespass tells the story of Anthony Verey, a wealthy but disillusioned antiques dealer from London seeking to remake his life in the countryside France. From the moment he arrives at the Mas Lunel, a frightening and unstoppable series of consequences is set in motion. Two worlds and two cultures collide. Ancient boundaries are crossed, taboos are broken, a violent crime is committed.