Screen presents a selection of the buzziest projects from UK available to international buyers at this year’s Cannes market.
About A Bell
Dir. Simon Callow
When a parish church in a quiet English town is demolished to make way for a new apartment block, a Syrian refugee is left upset, compelling him to join forces with an unlikely ally. Omid Djalili, Roger Allam and Christopher Eccleston star in the feelgood drama, which marks the second directing credit for veteran UK stage and screen actor Callow. Jasper Warry produces.
Contact: Kaleidoscope
All That Glitters
Dir. Peter Lavery
Paul Ready, star of BBC comedy series Motherland, leads the cast of this UK romantic comedy in which an insecure teenager hopes to prove himself by playing Romeo in a school play, and accidentally summons the ghost of William Shakespeare. It is Lavery’s debut feature and he also produces alongside Joe Andrews for Clover Fox Films. All That Glitters had its world premiere at Dublin International Film Festival in March.
Contact: Screenbound International Pictures
Anatomy Of A Genocide
Dir. Torstein Grude
This feature documentary explores the work of Francesca Albanese, the United Nations special rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, filmed across three years with access to her work and personal life. As well as directing, Grude produces through Norway’s Jordskjelv, in co-production with Sweden’s Auto Images, the Netherlands’ 100%, Croatia’s Nukleus Film and France’s Les Films de L’Oeil Sauvage.
Contact: Together Films
Cavendish
Dir. Christopher Andrews
Sophie Thatcher, Erin Kellyman and Joe Alwyn are to star in the next feature from Bring Them Down director Andrews, in which a bride is accused of witchcraft on her wedding day and pursued by a ruthless witch hunter. The thriller’s producers include the UK’s Wild Swim Films, nascent UK company January Films and Poland’s Madants. CAA Media Finance reps North America.
Contact: Cornerstone Film
Embers
Dir. Istvan Szabo
Ralph Fiennes, Viggo Mortensen and Charlotte Rampling star in a period drama directed by Szabo and penned by Oscar-winning screenwriter Christopher Hampton (Dangerous Liaisons). The film follows two inseparable friends who are reunited after decades apart. It is produced by Serendipity Point Films, HGO Films and Potboiler Productions, with the shoot underway in Hungary.
Contact: Embankment Films
The Exiled
Dir. Stephen Campanelli
Campanelli’s psychological thriller stars Alessandro Nivola, Charlie Tahan and Alyssa Wapanatahk and is set in 1922 on a remote lighthouse island off the stormy British Columbia coast, where two men are pitted against one another when a shipwreck delivers a sole survivor. The producers are Canada’s Screen Siren Pictures and Slovakia’s Film Kolektiv.
Contact: Protagonist Pictures
Eyes Along The Valley
Dir. Kriv Stenders
Avatar: Fire And Ash co-stars Stephen Lang and Sam Worthington reteam for this crime thriller in which two veteran detectives in 1950s Australia stumble unwittingly into the path of a serial killer in hiding. The producers include Deeper Water Films and Entropico.
Contact: Architect
Foxfinder
Dir. Aoife McArdle
Tessa Thompson, Ebon Moss-Bachrach and Owen Cooper star in a psychological thriller from Northern Irish filmmaker McArdle, whose directing work includes three episodes of Apple TV hit series Severance. Foxfinder follows a grieving couple clinging to routine as a means of survival, whose lives are upended by a new arrival. Rabbit Track Pictures and Elation Pictures produce. Cornerstone Film and Logical Pictures Group co-rep international sales, while WME Independent, Cornerstone and Logical jointly represent US rights.
Contact: Cornerstone Film
I Am Not Your Mother
Dir. Craig Johnson
Carrie Coon, Ben Platt and Lukas Gage lead the cast of Johnson’s US psychological thriller, in which a young, queer director with a murky past becomes fixated on an iconic actress desperate for her comeback. US-based Mighty Engine produces, while CAA and UTA are co-repping US rights.
Contact: Mister Smith Entertainment
I, Chihuahua!
Dir. Jorge R Gutierrez
Mexican filmmaker Gutierrez (The Book Of Life) directs this animation, with a voice cast including Gabriel ‘Fluffy’ Iglesias, Diego Luna, Stephanie Beatriz and Ron Perlman. The film pays tribute to Mexico’s lucha libre wrestling tradition, told through the underdog rise of an iron-willed chihuahua.
Contact: Rocket Science
John Doe
Dir. David Ayer
Jason Statham plays a man with no memory, no past and no name in Ayer’s action thriller. As fragments of his identity return, he discovers he was trained for a mission still in motion and is being hunted. Miramax is producing and financing, while Statham is also a producer via his Punch Palace Productions with Paul Schiff and Zak Penn.
Contact: Black Bear
Kaet Might Die
Dir. Mercedes Bryce Morgan
Awkwafina, Anthony Ramos and Ken Jeong star in this adaptation of Kaet McAnneny’s cancer memoir Boobs Gone Rogue. The producers are Balcony 9 Productions, Whitewater Films, Invention Studios, Fever Dream Studios and Toric Films. Capture is co-representing North American sales with CAA.
Contact: Capture
Love And War
Dir. Lisa Mulcahy
Samantha Morton headlines this thriller inspired by a true story, in which a mother enters war-torn Syria to recover her young daughter after she is taken across borders by her estranged father. Mulcahy’s previous directing credits include 2023’s Lies We Tell; Michael Garland produces.
Contact: AMP International
Lluest
Dir. Gareth Bryn
A woman is left to defend her isolated homestead from roaming thieves and religious zealots in this Welsh western set in the winter of 1780. Aimee-Ffion Edwards, Rhodri Meilir and Yann Gael star, while Hannah Thomas produces.
Contact: MetFilm Sales
Margot & Rudi
Dir. Anthony Fabian
Naomi Watts, Richard E Grant and Harriet Walter are to star in a romantic drama from director Fabian (Mrs Harris Goes To Paris), about ballet legends Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev. Mike Goodridge produces for Good Chaos, alongside Fabian for Elysian Films, Olivia Hetreed for Sympathetic Ink and Chris Coen.
Contact: WestEnd Films
A Night At Claridge’s
Dir. Whit Stillman
Adam Brody and Laura Carmichael star in this 1943 D-Day-set period feature, which marks US filmmaker Stillman’s first feature film in 10 years, following Love & Friendship. A Night At Claridge’s follows a woman who escapes London’s Blitz, only to land in the hands of a bully. Producers are SOS Productions in the UK and Le Spectre in France. Cinetic Media is handling North American sales.
Contact: Altitude
Night Swimming
Dir. Tom Stuart
Ben Whishaw stars in and is a producer on Stuart’s feature directorial debut, in which a man tracks down his late father’s secret gay lover, before a surprising relationship begins. Elettra Pizzi produces for UK outfit 130 Elektra Films alongside Whishaw and Stuart’s nascent Otto Films.
Contact: Bankside Films
The Spacesuit
Dir. Kitty Green
An astronaut (Vanessa Kirby) is forced to make an impossible decision after an incident with her co-pilot (Lewis Pullman) leaves a shadow over the mission in the days leading to lift-off. The film is Australian director Green’s follow-up to 2023’s The Royal Hotel, and James Schamus and Scott Macaulay are among the US producers. UTA Independent Film Group and CAA Media Finance are representing North America.
Contact: HanWay Films
Starman
Dir. Josh Wakely
Brendan Fraser stars in a sci-fi thriller in which a visionary technologist launches a historic expedition to Mars that gets derailed, leaving him millions of miles away from Earth and fighting for survival. Grace: A Storytelling Company and Sight Unseen are producers, with Australian filmmaker Wakely directing. Production is planned for the summer.
Contact: Anton
Stranger In Town
Dir. Melanie Oates
Sophie Nélisse and Charlie Carrick star in Canadian filmmaker Oates’ third feature, following Toronto 2024 selection Sweet Angel Baby and 2019’s Body And Bones. When an explosion of violence causes a woman to flee the isolated fundamentalist community that has been her only home, she finds herself alone in a secular world. Vancouver-based Goodbye Productions is producing.
Contact: Reason8
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