BFI Filmmakers Magazine
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A PATCH OF FOG NORFOLK BRAND NEW-U DIRECTOR: MICHAEL LENNOX DIRECTOR: MARTIN RADICH DIRECTOR: SIMON PUMMELL DEPARTURE HOW TO CHANGE GOZO DIRECTOR: ANDREW STEGGALL THE WORLD DIRECTOR: MIRANDA BOWEN DIRECTOR: JERRY ROTHWELL SPACESHIP SECOND COMING DIRECTOR: ALEX TAYLOR WHO’S GONNA LOVE DIRECTOR: DEBBIE TUCKER GREEN ME NOW? THE ONES BELOW DIRECTORS: TOMER HEYMANN, BYPASS DIRECTOR: DAVID FARR BARAK HEYMANN & ALEXANDER BODIN SAPHIR DIRECTOR: DUANE HOPKINS IONA THE MUSEUM ELECTRICITY DIRECTOR: SCOTT GRAHAM OF INNOCENCE DIRECTOR: BRYN HIGGINS DIRECTOR: GRANT GEE I AM BELFAST THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY DIRECTOR: MARK COUSINS THOMAS QUICK DIRECTOR: PETER STRICKLAND DIRECTOR: BRIAN HILL A SYRIAN LOVE STORY THE SURVIVALIST THE FALLING DIRECTOR: SEAN McALLISTER DIRECTOR: CAROL MORLEY DIRECTOR: STEPHEN FINGLETON THE LOVERS AND BILL THE GOOB THE DESPOT DIRECTOR: RICHARD BRACEWELL DIRECTOR: GUY MYHILL DIRECTORS: ROBERT CANNAN & ROSS ADAM THE LOBSTER ROBOT OVERLORDS DIRECTOR: YORGOS LANTHIMOS DIRECTOR: JON WRIGHT HIGH-RISE DIRECTOR: BEN WHEATLEY 45 YEARS DRUG LORD: DIRECTOR: ANDREW HAIGH THE LEGEND OF SHORTY THE INCIDENT DIRECTOR: ANGUS MACQUEEN DIRECTOR: JANE LINFOOT BROOKLYN DIRECTOR: JOHN CROWLEY X+Y TRESPASS AGAINST US DIRECTOR: MORGAN MATTHEWS DIRECTOR: ADAM SMITH SLOW WEST DIRECTOR: JOHN MACLEAN HYENA LIGHT YEARS LONDON ROAD DIRECTOR: GERARD JOHNSON DIRECTOR: ESTHER MAY CAMPBELL DIRECTOR: RUFUS NORRIS CATCH ME DADDY COUPLE IN A HOLE DARK HORSE DIRECTORS: DANIEL WOLFE & MATTHEW WOLFE DIRECTOR: TOM GEENS DIRECTOR: LOUISE OSMOND REMAINDER SUNSET SONG QUEEN AND COUNTRY DIRECTOR: OMER FAST DIRECTOR: TERENCE DAVIES DIRECTOR: JOHN BOORMAN SUFFRAGETTE TESTAMENT OF YOUTH LOVE IS ALL DIRECTOR: SARAH GAVRON DIRECTOR: JAMES KENT DIRECTOR: KIM LONGINOTTO BFI.ORG.UK/FILMFUND BFI FILMMAKERS ISSUE 2 | WINTER 2014/15 08 09 04 FIRST FEATURES DIRECTORS STEPHEN FINGLETON, JANE LINFOOT AND ESTHER MAY CAMPBELL 07 BFI NET.WORK INVESTING IN NEW AND EMERGING TALENT ACROSS THE UK 08 CATCH ME DADDY DANIEL AND MATTHEW WOLFE ON FINDING THEIR LEAD, SAMEENA JABEEN AHMED 10 14 09 WHO’S GONNA LOVE ME NOW? PRODUCER/DIRECTOR ALEXANDER BODIN SAPHIR ON HIS NEW DOCUMENTARY 10 45 YEARS WRITER/DIRECTOR ANDREW HAIGH ON HIS SECOND FEATURE 14 X+Y 16 18 DIRECTOR MORGAN MATTHEWS ON MAKING THE LEAP FROM DOCUMENTARIES TO FICTION 16 TESTAMENT OF YOUTH WRITER JULIETTE TOWHIDI TALKS ABOUT ADAPTING A CLASSIC MEMOIR 18 BROOKLYN PRODUCERS FINOLA DWYER AND AMANDA POSEY DISCUSS THEIR LATEST PROJECT 20 22 20 LONDON ROAD DIRECTOR RUFUS NORRIS IN CONVERSATION WITH THE BFI’S BEN ROBERTS 22 BILL BRINGING A FAMILY COMEDY TO THE BIG SCREEN CONTENTS WELCOME... Thanks for picking up this, the highly anticipated second issue of BFI FILMMAKERS, which offers a few glimpses at some of the films being made across the UK (and beyond) with our support at the Film Fund. After a debut described as "promising... some nice production values" we've added more pages, to cover more filmmakers. The front page features writer and director Andrew Haigh on a follow-up of his own, working alongside the great Charlotte Rampling on the recently completed 45 Years. Andrew drew attention with his docu-drama Greek Pete in 2009, but it was the surprise success of his first dramatic feature, Weekend, in 2011 that marked him out. With 45 Years, starring Rampling with Tom Courtenay as a couple whose steady marriage is struck by an unthinkable crisis, Andrew and his producer Tristan Goligher have swerved the sophomore slump. It's a remarkably mature film which, when viewed alongside his TV work on the HBO series Looking, suggests a filmmaker with a fine ear for honest, intimate and uncomfortable drama, and someone with the confidence to tell his stories at his own speed. As he considers his next steps (he is currently working on the second season of Looking) Andrew has built up a reputation that will help him attract cast and crew, and raise finance. It’s a reputation that will help him get his future films off the ground. It's satisfying to see a filmmaker's career moving forward and upwards, and a number of strong voices emerged this year which promise the same: Yann Demange (’71), Hong Khaou (Lilting), Destiny Ekaragha (Gone Too Far!), Jane Pollard and Iain Forsyth (20,000 Days On Earth) all made distinctive debuts in 2014, and we look at some of the other upcoming debuts that we're currently supporting over the next few pages. We’ve also recently celebrated the first birthday of the BFI NET.WORK, a new approach to our pre-first feature talent development which spans the UK. A sobering statistic from our own research unit shows that, over the last 10 years at least, only 18% of the directors of UK independent films have gone on to make a second. Whilst not accounting for those working in TV or in the US and elsewhere, that’s still 82% who didn’t make a second independent film in the UK. So we know that we need to put as much time and effort into the follow-up, if we're going to help build film careers that last, and definitely a resolution for the year ahead. BEN ROBERTS Director of the BFI Film Fund Powered by Film3Sixty, 45-51 Whitfield Street, London W1T 4HD · Managing Director & Publisher NICK LEESE · Editor JOSEPH WALSH · Creative Director PAUL MARC MITCHELL · Printed by Geoff Neal Litho All information correct at time of going to press. 360 Publishing gratefully acknowledges permission to use copyright material. Copyright holders are acknowledged on the page containing the individual copyright item. Every effort has been made to trace and contact copyright holders. If there are any inadvertent omissions we apologise to those concerned, and ask that you contact us so that we can correct any oversight as soon as possible. COUNTY ANTRIM Stephen Fingleton on the set of The Survivalist, County Antrim A vital and dynamic British film industry relies on the presence of a growing body of new, inspiring directors coming forward with their first features. It is not hard to imagine the complex thoughts and emotions that run through a first-time feature director’s mind. They FIRST weigh up the inherent challenges of the process against their innate desire to tell the stories they deeply care about. While the experience of creating short films, familiarity with production as well as a good producer will guide their FEATURES decisions, there is nothing comparable to the effort, complexity and excitement of creating a debut feature film. Stephen Fingleton, Jane Linfoot and Esther May Campbell are three such directors making that first leap into feature films, supported in part by the BFI which sees investing in talent as essential for enabling and nurturing new filmmakers across the STEPHEN FINGLETON, JANE LINFOOT AND UK. The BFI’s approach and process has also become more structured in order to ensure new filmmakers can be provided ESTHER MAY CAMPBELL ON THEIR EXPERIENCES with the necessary level of editorial support alongside raising finance. Filmmakers can apply for funding at any time during the year, but projects are assessed at quarterly intervals and follow a process which includes meetings with filmmakers. AS FIRST TIME FEATURE DIRECTORS When Stephen Fingleton decided he wanted to become With The Survivalist, this changed. New challenges were a director, he made a brave choice. He decided he would presented in tackling a feature-length film, but fortunately make a career outside of the film industry. “I knew early on the script was at an advanced stage. What Fingleton that I didn’t have any connections in the industry that would needed was to show what he could do as a director, so he be able to help me. I made the decision to use the money made a short called SLR, shortly followed by another with I earned working in financial administration, and eventually the support of the BFI, called Magpie. “Making Magpie was THE from a full-time job at the BBC, to make short films to incredibly helpful because if I hadn’t made it, I would never show at festivals,” says Fingleton. have found my cinematographer Damien Elliott. It was also a chance to experiment, and unlike SLR it was a film that The Survivalist is a daring debut. It is sci-fi, set in a world after I made for myself.” SURVIVALIST global economic collapse, and focuses on the title character, played by Martin McCann. When a mother and daughter, Like many first-time directors, Fingleton wrote the material STEPHEN FINGLETON Kathryn (Olwen Foéuré) and Milja (Mia Goth), approach this he was working with. “When you are on set and you have lone survivor for food, their presence brings new problems written the script, it prepares you for when you encounter that threaten the survivalist’s existence. problems, and you can quickly work out rewrites. The intimacy of writing and directing is very powerful because you are able Born in Northern Ireland, Fingleton began his career, to judge an actor’s performance and the material that they like many directors, making short films that he wrote, are delivering.” directed and produced. As he points out, “When you are making a film for a couple of thousand pounds, there When asked what he had learned from making his first aren’t the divisions between directing and producing feature, he said, “To my great surprise I discovered that at that level.” I was a director of actors.” THE SURVIVALIST DIRECTOR Stephen Fingleton PRODUCERS David Gilbery, Wayne Marc Godfrey, Robert Jones WRITER Stephen Fingleton CAST Martin McCann, Mia Goth, Olwen Fouéré, Barry Ward SHOOT DURATION Five weeks LOCATION County Antrim FILM STOCK Digital PRODUCTION COMPANY The