As AFM enjoys its first face-to-face edition since 2019, Screen profiles a selection of key titles, at various stages of production, available across the market.
Altitude Film Sales is launching sales on thriller The Prize directed by Norway’s Espen Sandberg. An American travels to Sweden to attend a friend’s funeral, only to become entangled in corruption and murder. Jason Clarke and Haley Bennett star, with Espen Horn, Chris Sparling, Zach Studin and Jillian Apfelbaum producing. Altitude is also bringing The Wrath Of Becky to the market. A sequel to 2000’s Becky, the action thriller from Hypnotic co-directors Matt Angel and Suzanne Coote stars Lulu Wilson and Seann William Scott.
Bankside Films has reteamed with Talk To Me producers Causeway Films for Samuel Van Grinsven’s ghost story Went Up The Hill. A man’s life takes a peculiar turn when he attends his estranged mother’s funeral in New Zealand. Dacre Montgomery and Vicky Krieps star. Causeway’s Samantha Jennings and Kristina Ceyton produce alongside Vicky Pope of Pop Film. Bankside is also introducing horror The Not Polly to buyers. Johannes Roberts directs a cast that includes Jade Pettyjohn as the most popular girl in her school, who wakes up in a morgue after a night of partying.
Cornerstone Films is launching sales on The Radleys, starring Damian Lewis and directed by Euros Lyn. The black comedy is based on the book of the same name by Matt Haig, and is produced by Good Luck To You, Leo Grande producer Debbie Gray of Genesius Pictures. It revolves around a seemingly ordinary family who are secretly vampires.
Cornerstone is also showing a promo for Daniel Kokotajlo’s Starve Acre – a supernatural horror starring Matt Smith and Morfydd Clark, set in 1970s rural England, and produced by Tessa Ross and Juliette Howell for House Productions, together with Emma Duffy.
Dogwoof is leading with Schmeichel, a documentary charting the career of the most decorated goalkeeper in Premier League history, Danish footballer Peter Schmeichel. Owen Davies directs, with Victoria Barrell and Simon Lazenby of Sylver Entertainment producing.
Film Constellation is championing Fatum, directed by Juan Galinanes, with a cast including Luis Tosar, Alex Garcia and Elena Anaya. The thriller unfolds in the 24 hours following a chance meeting between a compulsive gambler and an elite sniper. Borja Pena and Emma Lustres of Vaca Films produce, in association with Playtime. Film Constellation also brings Haunted Heart, an English-language thriller directed by Spanish filmmaker Fernando Trueba and starring Matt Dillon.
HanWay Films continues sales on Uberto Pasolini’s The Return, after it was first introduced to buyers at Cannes. Charlie Plummer has joined the previously announced cast of Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche in this retelling of Homer’s epic Greek poem The Odyssey. Plummer stars as Telemachus, the son of Odysseus and Penelope, played by Fiennes and Binoche respectively. Having grown up fatherless, Telemachus faces death at the hands of suitors who seem him as an obstacle in their pursuit of Penelope and the kingdom. It is produced by James Clayton and Pasolini for UK company Red Wave Films.
Independent Entertainment is spotlighting an untitled documentary about the Scottish singer-songwriter Lewis Capaldi. Joe Pearlman (Bros: After The Screaming Stops) directs the film, which is produced by Sam Bridger and Alice Rhodes. Also on Independent’s slate is Screen 2022 Star of Tomorrow George Jaques’ directing debut Black Dog, about two teenage boys from London on a road trip. Fellow Screen Star of Tomorrow Jamie Flatters co-writes with Jaques and stars, with Jaques and Ken Petrie producing.
Metro International is continuing sales on Second World War romance Late In Summer, which stars Emily Watson and charts a romantic encounter between a lonely farmer’s wife and a Black American GI. Debbie Gray produces through Genesius Pictures; Lionsgate UK has already snapped up UK rights. Also on Metro’s slate is Joachim Hedén’s shark thriller The Last Breath, about a group of college friends embarking on a perilous scuba diving trip.
Mister Smith Entertainment is hoping buyers will bow for Larin Sullivan’s debut The Young King, a comedy drama set amid the drag king scene of 1990s Las Vegas. Michael Shannon, Kiersey Clemons and Barbie Ferreira star in the film, which is produced by Clemons, Corporate Witchcraft’s Kim Bailey and Isabel Marden. WME Independent represents US sales. Mister Smith is also touting Ant Timpson-directed family adventure Bookworm, starring Elijah Wood, about a little girl whose estranged magician father comes back into her life.
Protagonist Pictures is handling The Fox, directed by Dario Russo and starring Morfydd Clark and Jai Courtney. The darkly comic fantasy follows a cuckolded fiancé who is goaded by a fox into taking drastic action to save his relationship. Kristina Ceyton and Samantha Jennings produce for Causeway Films. Protagonist is also introducing buyers to Clown In A Cornfield, produced by Temple Hill’s Marty Bowen and Wyck Godfrey, the team behind Smile. Eli Craig directs this horror, in which a clown becomes a source of terror.
Rocket Science will be showing first footage from Robbie Williams biopic Better Man, directed by The Greatest Showman’s Michael Gracey. Paul Currie, Jules Daly, Craig McMahon and Gracey produce, with a cast including Williams, Steve Pemberton and Alison Steadman, plus Jonno Davies as a younger Williams.
Signature Entertainment is bringing Desperation Road to the market. Nadine Crocker directs Garrett Hedlund, Mel Gibson and Willa Fitzgerald in the crime thriller adapted by Michael Farris Smith from his own novel about an ex-con and a single mother. Crocker also produces with Farris Smith, Walter Josten and Cassian Elwes.
WestEnd Films is continuing sales on Freud’s Last Session, a drama starring Anthony Hopkins as founder of psychoanalysis Sigmund Freud, opposite Matthew Goode as The Chronicles Of Narnia writer CS Lewis, as the pair clash about sex, God and the meaning of life. It is produced by Alan Greisman, Rick Nicita and Meg Thomson. The company is also launching worldwide sales on family feature The Boy At The Back Of The Class, based on Onjali Q Rauf’s 2018 children’s book of the same name.
SC Films International is selling newly completed thriller Little Bone Lodge starring Joely Richardson and directed by Matthias Hoene about two criminal brothers on the run who seek refuge in a desolate farmhouse, taking the resident family captive. The UK’s Tea Shop Productions and US outfit Particular Crowd produce.
101 Films International has spy thriller Dark Asset, which follows a man’s failed attempt at picking up a woman in a bar. Michael Winnick writes and directs, with Byron Mann, Helena Mattsson and Robert Patrick starring.
AMP is selling Jason Eisener’s Kids Vs Aliens, about a teenager hosting a house party that gets out of hand when aliens attack. Dominic Mariche and Phoebe Rex star, with Rob Cotterill, Josh Goldbloom, Jason Levangie, Brad Miska and Marc Tetreault producing.
Blue Finch Films has Canadian comedy The End Of Sex, directed by Sean Garrity. A married couple, played by Emily Hampshire and Jonas Chernick, attempt to spice up their marriage, leading to a series of misfires. Justin Rebelo produces.
Brilliant Pictures’ siege survival thriller Jericho Ridge is set in a remote US town that is ravaged by unemployment, where one mother goes to extreme lengths to protect her son from a murderous drug cartel. Nikki Amuka-Bird and Michael Socha star, and the film is the directing debut of screenwriter Will Gilbey. Alex Tate and Harvey Ascott produce.
Canoe Film is hoping buyers will flock to Raven’s Hollow. William Moseley plays a young Edgar Allan Poe, with Kate Dickie also starring in this horror film, which Shudder has picked up in English-speaking territories. Christopher Hatton directs, with Caroline Stern, Todd Lundbohm and Andrejs Ekis producing.
Devilworks has Medusa’s Venom, directed by Chase Martins, a follow-up to 2020 title Medusa. A newcomer is welcomed into Medusa’s circle. Becca Hirani and May Kelly star, while Scott Jeffrey, Rebecca Matthews, Samantha Richardson and Matteo Rolleri produce.
Evolutionary Films is leading with Have You Heard About Greg? — a documentary about 59-year-old investigative reporter Greg O’Brien as he faces early onset Alzheimer’s disease. Smart Show Entertainment produces, with Steve Ecclesine directing.
Film Republic is serving up Egle Vertelyte’s Tasty, a comedy about two friends working in a canteen who take part in a TV cooking competition. It is produced by Viktorija Cook of Lithuania’s Inscript and co‑produced by Latvian producer Alise Gelze’s outfit White Picture.
Film Seekers continues sales on Meg Rickards’ drama Pizza With Love, about a man trying to save his late sister’s restaurant, set against the backdrop of Cape Town’s competitive pizza-making scene. It is produced by Boondogle Films, Well Tempered Productions and Streetcar Productions. Colin Morgan and Rosabell Laurenti Sellers star, with filming pushed back from this year to 2023.
GFM Animation will share first-look footage on 10 Lives, directed by Chris Jenkins and in production at Montreal studio L’Atelier Animation. A pampered cat gets more than he bargained for when he is gifted another set of lives. Sister company GFM Film Sales is leading with DarkGame, a crime thriller from Howard J Ford that stars Ed Westwick. Six people are kidnapped and forced to play out a reality gameshow on the dark web.
Genre specialist Jinga Films has lined up Elise Finnerty’s debut feature, folk horror The Ones You Didn’t Burn. Nathan Wallace and Jenna Rose Sander play siblings who become embroiled in an occult conspiracy after the death of their father. It is produced by Finnerty, Estelle Girard Parks, Nicolas Alvo and Brett Phillips of US company Red Booth Productions.
Moviehouse Entertainment will be screening Australian action thriller Roadkill, which follows a highwayman who robs a serial killer. Alexander Whitrow writes, directs, produces and stars, with James Whitrow also producing.
Reason8 presents Andrea Magnani’s Jailbird, an Italy-Ukraine co-production about a baby born in a women’s prison who grows into a distinctive adult. It is produced by Chiara Barbo, Massimo Di Rocco, Andrea Magnani and Luigi Napoleone, and co-produced by Yuliya Chernyavskaya and Oleg Shcherbyna. Adriano Tardiolo leads the cast.
Screenbound has Jamie Patterson’s God’s Petting You, a dark comedy about a rehab self-help group that gives rise to a drugs money heist. George Webster, Skye Lourie, Joe Wilkinson, Alice Lowe and Patrick Bergin star. Patterson also produces alongside John Summers, Henry Summers and Dominic Machan.
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