Film4 in Cannes with stellar line-up for 2009.

LONDON, 11th May 2009: Film4 will be in Cannes with a diverse slate of new films from an array of established and first-time directors.

Among these is the Cannes competitor Ken Loach’s Looking For Eric, starring Steve Evets and Eric Cantona, which will premiere on Monday, May 18th.

Film4 has always looked to back bold and distinctive films and the forthcoming slate of films are hugely representative of what the company stands for – authorship, new and experienced talent, fresh and strong vision from the British film industry.

First-time filmmakers Xiaolu Guo, Tom Harper and Paul King are now in post production on their debut films while Sam Taylor-Wood is completing filming. Kevin Macdonald, Mike Leigh, Jonathan Glazer and Richard Ayoade, meanwhile, are busy casting their latest projects with Film4.

Tessa Ross, Controller of Film4 and Channel 4 Drama, said: “We are thrilled to be working with so many talented directors this year, and on such a varied spectrum of films. And we wish Ken Loach every success with Looking For Eric in Cannes. It’s a tough economic climate for us all, but Film4 will continue to develop and invest in exciting projects and we’re all looking forward to a productive and busy festival.”

 Film4 Productions

Completed Productions:

Looking for Eric
Director: Ken Loach
Writer: Paul Laverty
Producer: Rebecca O’Brien
Cast: Steve Evets, Eric Cantona, John Henshaw, Stephanie Bishop
Eric Bishop is a postman on the verge of a nervous breakdown. With two teenagers running riot in his house and the reappearance of his first love, Eric struggles to cope. But then his mates come up with some unusual self help techniques to put his life back on track. And there is the imagined intervention of a mythical hero…
Production Company: Sixteen Films
Sales: Wild Bunch.
Sixteen Films, Canto Bros. Productions, Why Not Productions, Wild Bunch, Film4, Icon Film Distribution, North West Vision Media, France 2 Cinema, France 2, Canal +, Cine Cinema, Sofica UGC 1, Diaphana Distribution, BIM Distribuzione, Les Films du Fleuve, RTBF (Television Belge), La Region Wallonne, Cineart, Tornasol Films, Alta Produccion.

Bunny & The Bull
Director: Paul King
Producers: Mary Burke, Mark Herbert, Robin Gutch
Cast: Edward Hogg, Simon Farnaby, Veronica Echegui
Bunny & The Bull is a comedy road movie set entirely in a flat. Stephen Turnball hasn’t been outside in months, and when he finds his mind hurtling back to the disastrous trek around Europe he undertook with his friend Bunny, a catalogue of adventures unfold. Stephen’s flat becomes the springboard for an extraordinary odyssey through lands made up of snapshots and souvenir replica landmarks within his imagination. Bunny & The Bull is a touching and beautiful journey to the end of the room.
Production company: Warp X
Sales: Wild Bunch
Film4 and UK Film Council present in association with EM Media and Screen Yorkshire

The Scouting Book For Boys
Director: Tom Harper
Producers: Christian Colson, Ivana MacKinnon
Cast: Thomas Turgoose, Holliday Grainger, Susan Lynch, Rafe Spall, Steven Mackintosh
Best friends David and Emily love their carefree life on a caravan park. When Emily discovers she has to move away, David helps her hide out in a remote coastal cave. But when Emily reveals her real reason for hiding, David’s world is shattered. As the missing person search closes in and David wrestles with powerful new emotions, their innocent subterfuge spirals out of control.
Production Company: Celador Films
Sales: Pathe International
Celador Films, Screen East Content Investment Fund and Film4 present in association with Pathe

 She, A Chinese
Director and Writer: Xiaolu Guo
Producer: Natasha Dack
Cast: Huang Lu, Wei Yibo, Geoffrey Hutchings, Chris Ryman
She, A Chinese is the feature film debut of novelist and documentary maker, Xiaolu Guo. Looking for adventure away from her Chinese peasant village, Mei’s restless nature takes her to London. After a marriage to a much older man and an affair with an Indian immigrant, Mei finally discovers what she wants.
Production company: Tigerlily Films and Warp X
UK Film Council and Film4 in association with EM Media and Screen Yorkshire. A Warp X/Tigerlily Films Production

In Production

Nowhere Boy
Director: Sam Taylor-Wood
Writer: Matt Greenhalgh
Producers: Robert Bernstein, Kevin Loader, Douglas Rae
Cast: Kristen Scott Thomas, Anne-Marie Duff, Aaron Johnson
John Lennon grew up in a family full of secrets. Raised by his Aunt Mimi he is suddenly reacquainted with his mother, Julia. Their intense reconciliation catapults him toward finding out the truth about his past, about the war that has raged between two very different sisters. Now coming of age, John must bring that war to an end. A fragile peace breaks out, marred by tragedy. But his mother gives him one great gift – music. A wayward boy finds his voice.
Production company: Ecosse Films
Sales: HanWay Films
Film4 and UK Film Council present an Ecosse Films production and Sam Taylor-Wood film in association with North West Vision & Media, LipSync Productions and HanWay Films.

The Lovely Bones
Director: Peter Jackson
Writers: Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Peter Jackson
Producers: Carolynne Cunningham, Fran Walsh, Peter Jackson, Aimee Peyronnet
Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Rachel Weisz, Susan Sarandon, Stanley Tucci, Michael Imperioli, Saoirse Ronan
Based on the critically acclaimed best-selling novel by Alice Sebold, and directed by Oscar winner Peter Jackson from a screenplay by Jackson, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, The Lovely Bones centres on a young girl who has been murdered and watches over her family- and her killer- from heaven. She must weigh her desire for vengeance against her desire for her family to heal.
Production company: Wingnut Films Productions Ltd
DreamWorks Pictures and Film4 present a Wingnut Film Production. A Paramount Pictures Release

Never Let Me Go
Director: Mark Romanek
Writer Alex Garland
Producers: Andrew Macdonald, Allon Reich
Cast: Keira Knightley, Carey Mulligan, Andrew Garfield, Charlotte Rampling, Sally Hawkins, Nathalie Richard, Andrea Riseborough, Domhnall Gleeson
Adapted for the screen by Alex Garland from Kazuo Ishiguro’s critically acclaimed novel of the same name Never Let Me Go imagines the lives of a group of students growing up in a darkly skewed version of contemporary England. Kathy attempts to come to terms with her childhood at the seemingly idyllic Hailsham school, and with the fate that has always awaited her and her closest friends in the wider world. A story of love, friendship and memory, charged throughout with a sense of the fragility of life.
Production Company: DNA Films
A Fox Searchlight Pictures, DNA Films and Film4 presentation

Chatroom
Director: Hideo Nakata
Writer: Enda Walsh
Producers: Alison Owen, Laura Hastings-Smith
Cast: Aaron Johnson
When five teenagers meet online, innocent friendships are formed. But soon the charismatic leader of the group singles out the weakest kid and seizes the chance to erase his own past- a chance to lead his victim towards self-destruction. Set in both the online and physical worlds, this psychological thriller exposes the chilling reality of what happens when the lines between reality and cyberspace are blurred.
Production Company: Ruby Films
Sales: West End Films
Film4, UK Film Council and WestEnd Film presents

Future Productions;

Four Lions
Director: Chris Morris

Untitled
Director: Mike Leigh

Neds
Director: Peter Mullan

Eagle Of the Ninth
Director: Kevin MacDonald

Blackout
Director: John Crowley

Beware the Devil
Director: Shane Meadows

Under the Skin
Director: Jonathan Glazer

Attack the Estate
Director: Joe Cornish

One Day
Director: Penny Woolcock

Submarine
Director: Richard Ayoade

About Film4
Film4, headed by Tessa Ross, is Channel 4 Television’s feature film division. The company develops and co-finances film productions and is known for working with the most innovative talent in the UK, whether new or established. Film4’s most recent releases include Danny Boyle’s, Slumdog Millionaire most recently winner of 8 Academy Awards, Steve McQueen’s Hunger, winner of, amongst other awards, the Cannes Camera D’Or, Martin McDonagh’s Oscar nominated, In Bruges, Mike Leigh’s Oscar nominated and Golden Globe Best Actress winner, Happy-Go-Lucky and Michael Winterbottom’s Genova.

For information and to arrange interviews during the Cannes Film Festival please contact:

Debra Johnson, Taylor Herring PR
+44 (0) 7930 333 932
[email protected]

Cannes office address:
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TELEPHONE
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