Screen presents a selection of the buzziest projects from UK available to international buyers at this year’s Cannes market.
The Accompanist
Dir. Zach Woods
Susan Sarandon, Aubrey Plaza and Everly Carganilla star in a magical-realist drama from Sound Of Metal production outfit Caviar. The feature directorial debut of US comedian and actor Woods follows a nine-year-old whose close bond with her new foster parent leads to unexpected consequences. CAA Media Finance and Gersh are handling North American sales; Caviar produces.
Contact: Mister Smith Entertainment info@mistersmithent.com
Alma
Dir. Sally Potter
Pamela Anderson, Dakota Fanning and Lindsay Duncan lead UK filmmaker Potter’s next feature, following a family who meet to scatter the ashes of their mother, only to find her haunted presence causes comical chaos. Producers are Potter’s longstanding collaborator Christopher Sheppard of Adventure Pictures and Rebecca O’Brien of Sixteen Films. Further cast includes Arinzé Kene, Esmé Creed-Miles and Earl Cave.
Contact: Bankside Films
Anxious People
Dir. Marc Forster
Angelina Jolie headlines an adaptation of Fredrik Backman’s Swedish novel Anxious People, with David Magee adapting the script. The comedy is set the day before Christmas Eve, as a reluctant bank robber takes a group hostage. Sweden’s Hope Studios and US outfit 2DUX² produce. WME Independent handles North America.
Contact: Black Bear
The Creep
Dir. Christopher Smith
UK filmmaker Smith reboots his 2004 cult horror classic Creep with The Creep, again set in the London Underground. Jasmine Jobson plays a woman forced to return to her criminal past, while rapper Aitch makes his acting debut. Producers of the original film, Julie Baines and Jason Newmark, are also back, for Dan Films and Newscope Films.
Contact: HanWay Films
The End Of It
Dir. Maria Martinez Bayona
Rebecca Hall, Gael Garcia Bernal, Noomi Rapace and Beanie Feldstein are on board Martinez Bayona’s feature debut. The sci-fi is set in a near-future world where ageing can be cured, and death is now optional. The UK’s Elation Pictures produces alongside Spain’s The Mediapro Studio; Norway’s Eye Eye Pictures co-produces. BBC Film and iFeatures developed the project.
Contact: Bankside Films
Getting Rid Of Matthew
Dir. Hernan Jimenez
Costa Rican director Jimenez’s comedy drama is set to star Luke Wilson and Heather Graham, and is based on a novel of the same name by Jane Fallon about a woman who moves to New York to follow her dream job. Alloy Entertainment is producing, with the film due to shoot in Canada later this year. Emma Roberts is in talks to join the cast.
Contact: Architect
Hellcat
Dir. Brock Bodell
In rising US genre filmmaker Bodell’s feature debut, a woman wakes up in a moving camper trailer with a horrifying wound, and the threat of a terrifying fate. Bodell produces alongside Andrew Duensing and Nate Eggert. Dakota Gorman and Todd Terry star, with a voice role for Saturday Night Live’s James Austin Johnson.
Contact: Blue Finch Films
Hide And Don’t Seek
Dir. Alexander J Farrell
Longlegs and Dangerous Animals producer Brian Kavanaugh-Jones, Fred Berger (A Complete Unknown) and Matt Coatsworth produce this supernatural horror. Six teenagers embark on a terrifying viral Japanese game in which the players summon a vengeful spirit for a deadly round of hide-and-seek. Tanner Buchanan, Garrett Wareing and Quvenzhané Wallis star. UTA and Range Select will co-rep North American rights.
Contact: Mister Smith Entertainment
Interbeing
Dir. Max Pugh
Pugh’s feature documentary is a biopic of Thich Nhat Hanh, the Vietnamese Zen master, peace activist and father of Mindfulness. Benedict Cumberbatch narrates, and Eve Schoukroun, Nick Francis and Marc J Francis produce.
Contact: WestEnd Films
Irvine Welsh: Reality Is Not Enough
Dir. Paul Sng
Trainspotting author Irvine Welsh’s influence and the themes of class, mortality, creativity and identity in his work are explored in this documentary from Sng (Poly Styrene: I Am A Cliché, Tish). Liam Neeson, Stephen Graham, Nick Cave and Ruth Negga provide readings, and LS Films produces.
Contact: Kaleidoscope Film Distribution
Lady
Dir. Samuel Abrahams
UK filmmaker Abrahams’ feature debut is a comedy that blends mockumentary and magical realism, about a lonely narcissistic aristocrat who dupes a struggling, opportunistic director into filming her every move. Sian Clifford (Fleabag) leads, with Juliet Cowan also starring. Producers are Stewart le Maréchal and Anna Mohr-Pietsch for MetFilm Production, with Sam Payne co-producing.
Contact: MetFilm
Nobel And The Kid
Dir. James Anthony Usas
Usas’ action sci-fi stars Athena Park as a young warrior who sets out with her guardian (played by Josh Bainbridge) on a journey through a violent dystopian future to avenge the murder of her father. The film is in post, having shot in Canada, and is produced by Canada’s Other Animal Entertainment.
Contact: Jinga Films
Photo Booth
Dir. Spencer Harvey, Lloyd Harvey
Lily James and Raffey Cassidy lead the cast of the US-UK thriller, which will shoot in Australia and London this October. The story unfurls around a performance artist’s struggles to conceive, and the unexpected fallout from her husband’s affair. Production outfits are Tree Line Films, Parodos Productions and Carver Films. UTA Independent Film Group handles North America.
Contact: HanWay Films
Pretend I’m Not Here
Dir. Simon Bird
Matthew Broderick, Sally Hawkins and Martin Freeman will star in Bird’s second feature, following Days Of The Bagnold Summer. The comedy drama follows an ordinary couple who offer refuge to a Jewish perfume salesman during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands. The UK’s Parkville Pictures co-produces with Dutch outfit Lemming Film. Cornerstone Films co-reps US rights with CAA Media Finance.
Contact: Cornerstone Films
Prima Facie
Dir. Susanna White
Wicked star Cynthia Erivo leads the cast of the screen adaptation of Suzie Miller’s play Prima Facie. Erivo plays a formidable British defence barrister, whose rise to success is hit by crisis. Bunya Productions producers Greer Simpkin and David Jowsey produce, with Embankment Films’ Kevin Loader. UTA Independent Film Group and CAA Media Finance co-represent North America.
Contact: Embankment Films
Seven Snipers
Dir. Sandra Sciberras
A retired sniper hiding out on an Australian ranch gets an elite team of killers back together to protect her daughter from a warlord. Tim Roth, Radha Mitchell, Ryan Kwanten and Ioan Gruffudd star in the action thriller. Producers are Tristan Barr, Sciberras, Grant Hardie, Ian Kirk and Phil Hunt, as part of a genre slate collaboration between Australia-New Zealand-based Monster Pictures Studios and the UK’s Head Gear Films.
Contact: Capture
The Shepherd
Dir. John Hyams
David Dastmalchian and Georgina Campbell star in a horror thriller set in the desolate Nevada night, where a young woman in labour tries to flee an abusive past. The film is produced through the Spooky Pictures/Image Nation partnership out of the US and Abu Dhabi, as well as US outfits Paperclip and Anton. UTA Independent Film Group and Cinetic are co-repping North American Rights.
Contact: Anton
Singular
Dir. Alberto Gastesi
Gastesi returns with a follow-up to his 2022 debut Stillness In The Storm, which premiered in San Sebastian’s New Directors section. Patricia Lopez Arnaiz stars in the sci-fi thriller as a university professor working with artificial intelligence linguistic models, who begins to suspect her husband has created an android version of their child. Producers are Spain’s White Leaf Productions and Vidania Films, plus Finland’s 61 North.
Contact: Reason8
Strange Arrivals
Dir. Roger Ross Williams
Demi Moore and Colman Domingo play a couple who, in 1961, became the first reported case of an alien abduction. See-Saw Films produces, with Jane Anderson writing the script. Rocket Science sells in partnership with Cross City Films, See-Saw’s in-house sales arm. WME Independent, CAA Media Finance and Cross City Films co-rep North America.
Contact: Rocket Science
Zero Protocol
Dir. Debs Paterson
Rebecca Hall leads this zombie action film, produced by Andy Serkis and Jonathan Cavendish’s Imaginarium Productions. An NYPD commissioner battles to manage a citywide zombie outbreak, only to discover her teenage daughter is trapped in the middle of the mayhem. WME Independent handles North America sales. Paterson’s TV credits include Paramount+ series Halo and Sky’s A Discovery Of Witches.
Contact: Anton
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