Sara Whybrew

Source: BFI

Sara Whybrew

The series of talks and debates taking place mainly in the UK Pavilion  to highlight the role of the UK as an international partner launch on Friday May 17 with a Talent Talk with cinemagrapher Robbie Ryan and a series of production case studies about UK-international collaborations. 

There will also be a panel talk exploring how the screen production sector can improve working conditions to benefit the mental and physical health of the sector that will be held in the Palais des Festivals.

Ryan, whose credits include Andrea Arnold’s Competition title Bird will be talking in the UK Pavilion at 11.30,  while the production panel will be taking place at the same time in the Palais.

“We hope our conversation in Cannes will further shine a light on the breadth of factors that underpin good work principles and practices,” said panel moderator Sara Whybrew, BFI director, skills and workforce development.

“By sharing insights and interventions that are underway in different parts of the world we can start to lay the track for continued discussions that get us closer to reaching a global consensus on, and a commitment to, working conditions that help us thrive individually and collectively.”

Whybrew will be joined by an international panel of Grainne Brunsdon, chief operating officer, Screen Australia; head of UK creative industries union Bectu, Phillipa Childs; and Agnès Toullieux, deputy secretary general, Centre national du cinéma et de l’image animée, France.

Case studies

Later in the day, at 16:00 in the UK Pavilion, two case studies will be presented on international co-productions: Rachel Dargavel of the UK’s Crybaby Films, Chelsea Morgan Hoffmann of UK-Ireland Element Pictures and Mark Byrne, group head of business affairs, at Ireland’s Sackville Film and Television Productions will talk about their co-production, Greek-French actor Ariane Labed’s directorial debut and Un Certain Regard selection September Says.

UK producers James Heath of the Mallinson Television Productions and Lena Vurma of Dragonfly Films will talk about their project, the Germany-Mexico-Romania- UK co-production from German filmmaker Thor Klein, Leonora In The Morning Light.