News

More than 250 international guests, including 53 buyers from 18 countries, have signed up for the Norwegian International Film Festival’s three-day industry event New Nordic Films in Haugesund, which will fête its 30th anniversary and kickoff with Charlotte Sieling’s drama “Way Home”, Aug. 20.

Some of the strongest filmmakers from the region and beyond – including Erik Poppe, Dag Johan Haugerud, Selma Vilhunen, Zaida Bergroth, Rúnar Rúnarsson – will be screening or pitching their next projects, next to scores of rising talents.

“Our DNA hasn’t changed,” said Line Halvorsen, who joined New Nordic Films four years ago and is serving as acting director, temporarily filling in for Gyda Velvin Myklebust.

“Our core is to gather Nordic filmmakers and industryites interested in Nordic films, to serve as a launching pad for new talents, and to spotlight latest industry trends. Together with our twin event in the Göteborg Nordic Film Market, we are here to support our Nordic industry,...

Four U.K. genre-bending titles from Zu Quirke (“Nocturne”), Corinna Faith (“The Power”), Anna Fredrikke Bjerke (writer of Netflix’s “Midsummer Night”) and Ashley Horner will be teased to potential Nordic partners Aug. 21, at the 19th Nordic Co-production Market in Haugesund, Norway.

The curated pitch slate forms the industry centrepiece of the second U.K. Focus, organised by Haugesund’s industry event New Nordic Films, in partnership with the British Film Institute (BFI).

“We are looking forward to the second U.K. Focus at Haugesund’s Nordic Co- Production Market, sparking co-production conversations for the participating U.K. producer/director teams in meeting potential Nordic partners,” said Denitsa Yordanova, head of the UK Global Screen Fund (Ukgsf), which is financed via the UK Department for Culture, Media and Sport (Dcms) and administered by the BFI.

“The Nordics offers a very vibrant ecosystem of talents and co-production partners with strong track records.

Nyctophobia is an irrational fear of the dark, leaving many reaching for a night light. Horror, and the creatures that lurk within it, thrive on darkness. Light becomes a weapon against them.

The Boogeyman, releasing in theaters on June 2, presents the latest monstrous foe to terrorize unsuspecting victims from the darkest recesses of their homes. So, this week’s streaming picks are dedicated to supernatural entities and monsters with an extreme aversion to light.

Here’s where you can stream these five titles this week.

For more Stay Home, Watch Horror picks, click here.

The Hallow – AMC+, Tubi

This dark fairytale is part creature feature, part body horror, and all Irish folktale. Corin Hardy’s feature debut follows a British plant conservationist and his family as they discover the hard way what it means to ignore warning signs and invade the territory of fairies, banshees, and changelings. There’s nothing...

The supernatural horror genre is overflowing with thought-provoking gems deserving of wide viewership and Britain's The Power is but one example of the many recent indie offerings where the horror is matched by the thematic complexity. Elegantly directed by debuting filmmaker Corinna Faith, The Power is a heady exercise in slow-escalating terror anchored by a resolutely believable Rose Williams as an embattled nurse thrust against menacing forces. Williams' Val credibly morphs from tentative night nurse to rampaging crusader - and the character arc is expertly handled. Tackling provocative themes delicately while delivering ensuring scares abound, The Power is a must-see for genre enthusiasts and sits among the very best films currently available to stream on Shudder.

The feature is part of the UK outfit’s EFM slate.

UK sales and distribution company Signature Entertainment is introducing buyers to Tommy Boulding’s Hounded at the European Film Market this week and has confirmed it will release the film in the UK and Ireland.

It is the debut feature from UK director Boulding, who has worked as an editor on features including Corinna Faith’s The Power and Toby Meakins’ Curs>r.

A stately home robbery takes a sinister turn one night when a gang of young thieves is caught by the owners of the house and hunted...

The feature is part of the UK outfit’s EFM slate.

UK sales and distribution company Signature Entertainment is launching international sales on Tommy Boulding’s completed project Hounded at the European Film Market this month.

It will also disribute the film in the UK and Ireland,

It is the debut feature from UK director Boulding, who has worked as an editor on features including Corinna Faith’s The Power and Toby Meakins’ Curs>r.

A stately home robbery takes a sinister turn one night when a gang of young thieves is caught by the owners of the house and...

The feature is part of the UK outfit’s EFM slate.

UK sales and distribution company Signature Entertainment will distribute survival thriller Hounded in the UK and Ireland and has boarded international sales as part of the outfit’s European Film Market slate.

It is the debut feature from UK director Tommy Boulding, who has worked as an editor on features including Corinna Faith’s The Power and Toby Meakins’ Curs>r.

A stately home robbery takes a sinister turn one night when a gang of young thieves is caught by the owners of the house and hunted across the estate for the proprietors’ entertainment.

Variety Director to Watch Prano Bailey-Bond (“Censor”) and BAFTA-nominated “After Love” filmmaker Aleem Khan are among the 39 filmmakers longlisted in the British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) new talent categories.

The 39 longlisted filmmakers will be invited to join BIFA’s Springboard scheme, a tailored program of professional development, peer-to-peer support, mentoring, networking and skills enhancement aimed to nurture emerging talent as they build on the success of their first features.

The final five nominations in each category will be announced on Nov. 3. Winners will be revealed at the ceremony on Dec. 5.

The longlists:

The Douglas Hickox Award

(Best Debut Director)

Aleem Khan – “After Love”

Matt Chambers – “The Bike Thief”

Prano Bailey-Bond – “Censor”

Jonathan Butterell – “Everybody’s Talking About Jamie”

Sonita Gale – “Hostile”

Jack Clough – “People Just Do Nothing: Big In Japan”

Reggie Yates – “Pirates”

Celeste Bell “Poly Styrene: I Am A Cliché” [also Directed By Paul Sng]

Corinna Faith – “The Power”

Charlotte Colbert – “She Will...

(Welcome to The Daily Stream, an ongoing series in which the /Film team shares what they've been watching, why it's worth checking out, and where you can stream it.)

The Movie: "The Power"

Where You Can Stream It: Shudder, AMC Plus

The Pitch: "The Power" is not Corinna Faith's first feature. She made "Ashes" in 2005, but "The Power" is an evolution of sorts in storytelling from the young director. So many indie horror films are not given their flowers until nearly a decade or so later, when the blinders of the era come off. Faith deserves her flowers in real time, for "The Power"...

The post The Daily Stream: You're All Sleeping on The Power appeared first on /Film.

“It’s about filmmakers having a spider-sense [about the zeitgeist], picking fears from the ether and giving it form.”

UK writer-director Corinna Faith joined Lizzie Francke, senior production and development executive at BFI Film Fund, and Sophie Green, head of acquisitions and development at Bankside, to explore the creative and business reasons fuelling the growing popularity of genre films by female UK directors, including Faith’s The Power, Rose Glass’s Saint Maud and Prano Bailey-Bond’s Censor at a ScreenDaily Talk hosted in partnership with the Dinard Festival Of British Film on September 30.

Watch the session above.

The panel noted it’s...

The latest Talk is held in partnership with the Dinard Festival of British Film.

The latest in our series of ScreenDaily Talks will discuss the rise of genre filmmaking in the UK by women directors.

Filmmakers such as Corinna Faith (The Power), Prano Bailey Bond (Censor), Ruth Platt (Martyrs Lane), Ruth Paxton (The Banquet), Romola Garai (Amulet) and Rose Glass (Saint Maud) are playing with horror and genre tropes to probe a series of female-led issues and garnering arthouse plaudits as they do so.

The Talk will explore what is driving the flare in female genre filmmaking, the local and international market for these films,...

The festival films will all be split across six strands, including competition titles.

Dinard Festival of British Film has set the programme and jury for its 32nd edition, which will take place from September 29 to October 3 both in-person in northern France and online.

Following the cancellation of the 2020 edition due to the pandemic, the festival returns with six new thematic strands, all exhibiting different aspects of UK and Irish film.

‘Dinard Rocks The Casbah’ presents four features exploring different musical genres – reggae, punk, britpop and techno. ‘Irish Eyes In Dinard’ includes five recent Irish features including Phyllida Lloyd’s Herself,...

Six years after she first conceived of the idea, Corinna Faith’s “The Power” is gearing up for release. Cleverly set in 1974, during a time when miners’ union disputes led to blackouts enforced by the U.K. government, the British writer-director’s debut feature is a smart and scary horror that marks her as a filmmaker to watch.

“As a first feature, the horror genre is so openly creative,” Faith tells Variety. “Visually, there is so much you can do with that medium to introduce yourself and your style.”

“The Power,” which is now available on streaming service Shudder, focuses on young trainee nurse Val (Rose Williams), who is forced to work the night shift on her first day at the East London Royal Infirmary on one such powerless night. But it soon becomes clear that there’s much more to worry about than the lights going off, with Val...

Set during London’s so-called “Three-Day Week” period — just over two months in 1974 when Conservatives in Britain rationed electricity as part of a dispute with the coal miners whose output supplied most of the country’s energy — Corinna Faith’s The Power is an impressively accomplished debut feature that yokes a classic ghost story to the dynamics of the contemporary #MeToo movement. Val is an apprentice nurse working her first night shift in an aging East London hospital. There are plenty of shadows as lights go out in unused areas, and gas lanterns are the most frequent source of illumination. […]

The post “She Can Only Function in the Dark”: Writer/Director Corinna Faith On Her Female-Led, ’70s-Set Ghost Story, The Power first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

Set during London’s so-called “Three-Day Week” period — just over two months in 1974 when Conservatives in Britain rationed electricity as part of a dispute with the coal miners whose output supplied most of the country’s energy — Corinna Faith’s The Power is an impressively accomplished debut feature that yokes a classic ghost story to the dynamics of the contemporary #MeToo movement. Val is an apprentice nurse working her first night shift in an aging East London hospital. There are plenty of shadows as lights go out in unused areas, and gas lanterns are the most frequent source of illumination. […]

The post “She Can Only Function in the Dark”: Writer/Director Corinna Faith On Her Female-Led, ’70s-Set Ghost Story, The Power first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

Written and Directed by Corinna Faith Starring Rose Williams Now Playing Exclusively on Shudder Synopsis London, 1974. As Britain prepares for electrical blackouts to sweep across the country, trainee nurse Val (Rose Williams) arrives for her first day at the crumbling East London Royal Infirmary. With most of the patients and staff evacuated to another …

The post Corinna Faith’s Haunted Hospital Horror “The Power” Now On Shudder appeared first on Horror News | Hnn.

Night Nurse: Faith Finds the Night the Lights Went Out on the Patriarchy in Moody Debt

Director Corinna Faith makes fine use of period and metaphor in her directorial debut The Power, which feels most persuasive when utilizing its greatest potential of fearing what can’t be seen—especially when there are a myriad of insidious humans lurking in the shadows of a 1970s era hospital who happen to be colleagues and not patients.

Set during a specific period in 1974, when the conservative Heath ministry dictated the Three-Day Week, whereby commercial use of electricity was restricted to conserve electricity, a passive young nurse finds herself forced to work a night shift in an unsavory East London hospital.…...

The Power, Corinna Faith’s haunted hospital creeper, hinges on such a richly atmospheric historical context that it’s a wonder it hasn’t been used as the backdrop for more horror. Set in 1974 London, the action takes place during a period known as The Three-Day Week––a time when the government-mandated power outages (and imposed other restrictions) to combat the lack of resources caused by widespread mine strikes. Faith’s film leverages both the physical realities of these blackouts and the class-based anger of the moment for maximum effect. It eventually resorts to well-intentioned but inelegant info dumps to reach its climax, but the tactile environments and direct filmmaking separates it from most films of its ilk.

The story centers around Valerie (Rose Williams), a first day nurse who’s been having nightmares related to an unclear trauma, and has a comically unlucky fear of the dark. Raised in an orphanage,...

Screenwriter Stuart Wright talks to writer/director Corinna Faith about her debut feature film The Power, which is available exclusively on Shudder now.

1973: a young nurse is forced to work the night shift in a crumbling hospital as striking miners switch off the power across Britain. But inside the walls lurks a terrifying presence that threatens to consume her and everyone around her.

The film was developed with the support of Creative England via the BFI Network (awarding funds from the National Lottery) and received production finance from the BFI (awarding funds from the National Lottery) and Head Gear. The Power is presented by the BFI in association with Head Gear Films, Metrol Technology and Kreo Films.

Easily one of the best movies I've seen this year, Corinna Faith's The Power follows a trainee nurse, Val (Rose Williams), who is forced to work the night shift at the decrepit East London Royal Infirmary in 1974. With mandatory power outages scheduled each night, Val must face her fear of the dark head-on while caring for patients, and while she just hopes to make it through the night, the potentially haunted hospital and demons from her own past have other plans.

A masterful and timely horror movie that is as thought-provoking as it is genuinely scary, The Power is now streaming on Shudder, and I highly recommend that you make time in your schedules and space on your watch lists for this gem of a film.

For Indie Horror Month, Daily Dead recently had the pleasure of speaking with writer/director Corinna Faith over Zoom, and she discussed her unforgettable experience making The Power,...

In 1973, beset by a labor crisis that led striking miners to upend the coal industry (and thus most of the country’s power supply), Britain decided to conserve what power they were still able to generate with a wild idea: planned electricity cuts. Between New Year’s Eve 1973 and early March 1974, the country periodically shut off most of its power in the dead of night, leaving its cold and scared citizens desperate for morning. First-time feature filmmaker Corinna Faith sets “The Power” inside this strange, scary bit of history and

Young nurse Val (Rose Williams) hates the power cuts, popping out of bed each morning to turn on every light in her tiny flat, and we soon learn that her fears go far beyond the usual darkness. When we meet Val, it’s early January, cold and terribly bleak, but it’s also her first day at work at the East London Royal Infirmary,...

A fragile nurse encounters malevolent forces on night duty in Corinna Faith’s efficient screw-tightener with a feminist slant

In Don McCullin’s 1970s photographs of grinding poverty in the East End, Whitechapel looks like it might have in Dickens’s lifetime. And it’s grim deprivation that student nurse Val (Rose Williams) walks into on her first day on the wards of an east London hospital in this feminist horror; her first patient is a little girl with rickets and stunted growth. Written and directed by Corinna Faith, this film is a real screw-tightener, ingeniously set during the miners’ strike in January 1974. What could be scarier than the lights going out in a Victorian hospital in the dead of night?

When Val arrives most of the patients are being transferred to another hospital for the night because of a scheduled power cut. Val is on the “dark shift” – staying...

As the sun comes out, the lights are being switched off indoors, in this brilliant and terrifying new horror flick The Power, coming exclusively on Shudder this week. Written and directed by Corinna Faith, and with a hugely impressive performance from leading lady Rose Williams, we had the pleasure of speaking to both talented individuals to mark the film’s release.

We discussed the immersive nature of the film, and how the setting – shot in an abandoned psychiatric hospital – played into William’s performance. We also chat about whether the horror genre is accessible enough for female filmmakers, and ask Faith her ambitions for her future. And of course we had to ask Williams briefly about Mrs Harris Goes to Paris, where she stars alongside Isabelle Huppert.

Watch the full interview with Corinna Faith and Rose Williams here:

Synopsis

1973: a young nurse is forced to work the night shift...

When did you last hear characters in a horror film talking about trade unions? It's strange that it's rare, when you think about it, because there's usually safety in numbers. One person might be weak alone but when they form the right alliances, they can have power. This idea goes to the heart of Corinna Faith's film, but the alliances don't necessarily develop where you might expect them to.

Young Val (Rose Williams) is quickly disabused of the notion of nursing as a sisterhood when she starts her first day at a busy hospital. The Matron (Diveen Henry) is strict to the point of scaring her a little, whilst staff on her own level are constantly vying with one another. One of them, shameless social climber Babs (Emma Rigby), knows a little about her past in the local orphanage, and soon people are muttering about her reputation and the supposedly awful.

Written and Directed by Corinna Faith Starring Rose Williams Premieres April 8th Synopsis London, 1974. As Britain prepares for electrical blackouts to sweep across the country, trainee nurse Val (Rose Williams) arrives for her first day at the crumbling East London Royal Infirmary. With most of the patients and staff evacuated to another hospital, Val …

The post Corinna Faith’s Ghost Story “The Power” Set During London Blackouts | Premieres on Shudder April 8th appeared first on Horror News | Hnn.

Shudder is pulling out all the shivery stops to commemorate the startling fact that we are exactly halfway to the most beloved date on any horror fan’s calendar, Halloween. Yes, that’s right, this month (April) is the six-month mark and the world’s scariest streaming outlet is celebrating with “Halfway to Halloween,” a massive slate of programming that begins on April 1 and continues throughout the rest of the month.

This is no April Fool’s joke (although we have some if you want). Shudder is rolling out a brand new batch of exclusive and/or original programming, including the second season of its acclaimed Creepshow series, the premiere of a new series of original short films called Deadhouse Dark, the highly anticipated sequel to its In Search of Darkness documentary, the return of The Last Drive-in with Joe Bob Briggs, and the 2021 Fangoria Chainsaw Awards.

But wait, the...

The Power Trailer — Corinna Faith‘s The Power (2021) movie trailer has been released by Shudder. The Power trailer stars Rose Williams, Charlie Carrick, Gbemisola Ikumelo, Theo Barklem-Biggs, Emma Rigby, and Shakira Rahman. Crew Corinna Faith wrote the screenplay for The Power. Elizabeth Bernholz and Max de Wardener created the music for the film. Laura Bellingham [...]

Continue reading: The Power Trailer: Nurse Rose Williams works in an Infirmary when a Evil force strikes in Corinna Faith’s 2021 Movie...

Written and Directed by Corinna Faith Starring Rose Williams Available Exclusively On Shudder April 8th London, 1974. As Britain prepares for electrical blackouts to sweep across the country, trainee nurse Val (Rose Williams) arrives for her first day at the crumbling East London Royal Infirmary. With most of the patients and staff evacuated to another …

The post Shudder’s Supernatural Thriller “The Power” Set During London Blackouts Premieres April 8th | New Trailer + Poster appeared first on Horror News | Hnn.

Shudder has unveiled a new trailer for the upcoming horror from Corinna Faith, ‘The Power’.

London, 1974. As Britain prepares for electrical blackouts to sweep across the country, trainee nurse Val (Rose Williams) arrives for her first day at the crumbling East London Royal Infirmary. With most of the patients and staff evacuated to another hospital, Val is forced to work the night shift, finding herself in a dark, near-empty building. Within these walls lies a deadly secret, forcing Val to face both her own traumatic past and deepest fears in order to confront the malevolent force that’s intent on destroying everything around her.

Written and directed by Corinna Faith, the film stars Rose Williams, Shakira Rahman, Charlie Carrick, Diveen Henry, Gbemisola Ikumelo, Nuala McGowan, Emma Rigby, Theo Barklem-Biggs.

Also in trailers – “Who shot Biggie Smalls?’ Forest Whitaker and Johnny Depp star in trailer for ‘City of Lies’

The film...

A trainee nurse battles demons from her past while monitoring the haunted halls of a decrepit London infirmary circa 1974 in the official trailer for Corinna Faith's The Power, coming to Shudder on April 8th.

Written and directed by Corinna Faith, The Power stars Rose Williams, Shakira Rahman, Charlie Carrick, Diveen Henry, Gbemisola Ikumelo, Nuala McGowan, Emma Rigby, and Theo Barklem-Biggs.

Synopsis: "London, 1974. As Britain prepares for electrical blackouts to sweep across the country, trainee nurse Val (Rose Williams) arrives for her first day at the crumbling East London Royal Infirmary. With most of the patients and staff evacuated to another hospital, Val is forced to work the night shift, finding herself in a dark, near empty building. Within these walls lies a deadly secret, forcing Val to face both her own traumatic past and deepest fears in order to confront the malevolent force that’s intent on destroying everything around her.

October doesn’t have to be the exclusive month of chilling, thrilling films, and no one recognizes that more acutely than horror streamer Shudder, which recently announced a cheeky “Halfway to Halloween Month” (read: April), dedicated to the kind of fresh genre programming usually relegated to autumn. Included in that stacked assortment of new programming is Corinna Faith’s “The Power,” an alluring-sounding thriller that joins the streaming outfit’s steadily growing body of original films.

An entrant in the 2018 edition of the Brit List, the much-anticipated period thriller uses real history to unspool a supernatural thriller. Set in the early winter of 1974, the film picks up during the “Three-Day Week” period in the UK, during which a combination of power conservation and striking miners plunged the country into a planned, partial blackout for over two months. Against that already unnerving backdrop, Faith readies a story that would be scary,...

Streaming Exclusively On Shudder 8 April 2021 Written And Directed By BAFTA Nominated British Filmmaker Corinna Faith Starring British Actress Rose Williams Soundtrack By Gazelle Twin & Max De Wardener Shudder, the premium streaming service for horror, thrillers and the supernatural, is thrilled to announce that BAFTA nominated Corinna Faith’s directorial …

The post The Next Great British Horror Film | BAFTA Nominated Corinna Faith’s The Power | Releasing on 8 April 2021 appeared first on Horror News | Hnn.

House Productions, Imaginarium & Neal Street shows among seven scripted series.

Netflix has unveiled a slate of seven UK scripted originals from creatives including Rowan Atkinson, Sam Mendes, Joe Cornish, Sophie Petzal and Joe Barton.

Spanning multiple genres, the series will be filmed throughout the nations and regions of the UK, including the north, south west and Wales. The original commissions are part of Netflix’s continued investment in the UK creative ecosystem, with the streaming giant set to invest $1bn (£744.1m) on UK content this year.

The series includes Baby Reindeer (eight x 30-minutes), written by Sex Education alumnus and...

Netflix announced Sunday that it is starting development on seven new shows that will be filmed in the U.K., with Andy Serkis, Rowan Atkinson and “1917” director Sam Mendes among the attached talent.

The shows will be developed by the streamer’s vice president of U.K. Original Series, Anne Mensah and will be produced alongside upcoming seasons of shows like “The Crown” and “Sex Education.”

“Setting up a team entirely based in the U.K. was always about being able to better connect to the fantastic program makers we have here — to provide a space for writers, producers, directors and actors that feels local, friendly and familiar but also provides talent the opportunity to make shows that will impact on a global scale. U.K.-made stories really do speak to the world,” Mensah said in a statement.

Among the upcoming projects are: “Man vs. Bee,” a slapstick...

Netflix has announced that it will produce seven new original scripted series in the UK, ranging from horror to science fiction, love stories to physical comedy.

All of the shows will be written and produced in the UK. The Original Series team is led by VP UK Anne Mensah.

“Setting up a team entirely based in the UK was always about being able to better connect to the fantastic program-makers we have here,” Mensah said. “To provide a space for writers, producers, directors and actors that feels local, friendly and familiar but also provides talent the opportunity to make shows that will impact on a global scale. UK-made stories really do speak to the world.

“I couldn’t be more excited by the mix of people who are now producing for Netflix. Alongside these new commissions, we have projects in development with a range of amazing creators including Andrew “Rapman” Onwubolu,...

Netflix has added seven new series to its original content slate out of the U.K., working with the likes of former “Mr. Bean” star Rowan Atkinson, Sam Mendes and Andy Serkis, along with new writing talent including Sarah Dollard and Sophie Petzal.

The shows, commissioned by the Original Series team as part of the streaming giant’s continued investment in the U.K., will all be written and produced domestically.

From Mendes and his Neal Street Productions is a six-part show called “The Red Zone,” which mysteriously teases “a comedy about football, but also not about football.” Meanwhile, Atkinson will star in short-form, 10-part comedy series “Man vs Bee,” which finds him housesitting a luxurious mansion while duking it out with a pesky bee.

Elsewhere, in a project executive produced by Serkis, “Giri/Haji” creator Joe Barton is on board to adapt Sally Green’s “Half Bad” trilogy of books,...

Exclusive: AMC’s genre streaming service Shudder has picked up all rights to Brit supernatural chiller The Power for North America, UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand.

The Power marks the feature directorial debut of writer-director Corinna Faith (The Innocents) and stars rising actress Rose Williams, whose credits include The CW’s Reign, Sky original Curfew, Netflix’s Medici and upcoming feature Mrs Harris Goes To Paris.

The 2018 Brit List script, in the spirit of The Woman in Black and The Others, is set in 1970s London during a period of blackouts. As striking miners switch off the power across Britain, a young nurse on her first day of duty is forced to work the night shift in a crumbling hospital where a dark presence is lurking in the walls.

Producers are Matthew James Wilkinson (Yesterday) and Rob Watson (Italian Studies). Brit electro artist Elizabeth Bernholz, better known by her stage name Gazelle Twin,...

30West is to acquire a significant minority stake in Altitude Media Group, the British film company led by Will Clarke and Andy Mayson.

The move marks 30West’s second corporate investment after it took a stake in 2018 in U.S. film distributor Neon, whose Korean film “Parasite” won an Oscar for best picture – the first time a non-English-language film won the award – as well as Oscars for director, international feature and original screenplay.

Altitude encompassing production, finance, international sales, and U.K. and Irish distribution. Its releases include “Amy,” “Moonlight,” “20 Feet From Stardom,” “Lady Macbeth,” “Beast,” and “The Florida Project.” They recently produced and released Asif Kapadia’s “Diego Maradona.”

According to a statement, “30West provides capital and strategic guidance to high-caliber creative projects and forward-thinking companies operating throughout popular culture.” It works with filmmakers “to guide every stage of creative packaging, production, sales, distribution and licensing in order...

Ammonite, the period romance pic starring Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan from God’s Own Country filmmaker Francis Lee, received the highest individual production award from the British Film Institue’s Film Fund this year.

The pic from The King’s Speech outfit See-Saw Films was awarded $1.74m (£1.3m) in production finance. It tells the story of Mary Anning, an infamous fossil hunter who develops an intense relationship with a young woman after being sent to convalesce by the sea, and was shot on location in West Dorset in spring this year.

The pic was absent from the Sundance list, where Lee’s God’s Own Country debuted to acclaim, likely because it wasn’t ready in time, though it’s expected to pop up at a significant festival this year. Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions, Lionsgate and Transmission have all boarded distribution in key markets.

Second on the list is Ali & Ava,...

The film will shoot in early 2020; Altitude’s Afm slate also includes Ya comedy ‘Beards’.

UK sales outfit Altitude Film Sales has taken worldwide rights to Jet Ski, a high-concept survival thriller in the vein of 47 Meters Down, and will introduce the project to buyers at Afm.

The film is directed by James Nunn, whose credits include co-director on 2012 UK thriller Tower Block and second-unit director on 47 Meters Down, while the script is by Nick Saltrese (A Prayer Before Dawn). The producer is Andrew Prendergast for Vitality Visual Effects UK, whose recent credits include The Courier starring Olga Kurylenko and Gary Oldman.

Exclusive: Andi Matichak, who starred opposite Jamie Lee Curtis in the recent big-grossing Halloween reboot, and Emile Hirsch (Once Upon A Time In Hollywood) will lead the cast of Ivan Kavanagh’s horror feature Son.

Project is aiming for a January 2020 U.S. shoot. Altitude Films has boarded world sales rights and will launch at Afm next week.

Film is a character-driven horror about a mother who escaped from a demonic cult as a child. Her past catches up with her as its members infect her young son with an insidious disease, the cure for which is more terrifying than she can imagine.

Kavanagh also wrote the screenplay. He previously helmed western Never Grow Old with John Cusack and Hirsch, and psychological horror The Canal, which was bought by The Orchard.

Producers are Rene Bastian (Transamerica) for Belladonna Productions, AnneMarie Naughton (The Canal) of Park Films and Louis Tisné (Border) of Elastic Film.

Matthew James Wilkinson, one of the original producers of box-office hit “Yesterday,” has his latest movie, “Days of the Bagnold Summer,” premiering at the Locarno Festival on Wednesday. He talks to Variety about those movies, as well as upcoming projects, including a heist musical, a feminist horror pic, and a new film – as yet unannounced – directed by BAFTA winner Paul Andrew Williams.

Wilkinson is riding high on the success of “Yesterday,” which he brought to screenwriter Richard Curtis, who in turn helped persuade Working Title and Universal Pictures to come on board, with Danny Boyle attaching as director to form a dream team.

Reflecting on what has driven the film’s popularity with audiences – it has grossed more than $125 million worldwide – Wilkinson says: “It is partly escapism. We are living through quite difficult and complicated times, so when you present something that is charming and takes you out of the everyday,...

Project is from producers Matthew James Wilkinson and Rob Watson.

Emerging talent Rose Williams will lead the cast of UK supernatural thriller The Power, the debut feature of writer-director Corinna Faith (The Innocents).

Altitude Film Sales has boarded the title and will be introducing it to buyers at the upcoming European Film Market in Berlin.

The Power screenplay was named on the 2018 Brit List. The story is set in 1970s London. When striking miners switch off power across Britain, rolling electrical blackouts plunge the country into darkness. Williams plays a young nurse on her first day of duty who is...

Eight first-time filmmakers selected as mentees.

UK mentoring programme Guiding Lights is returning this year with a new iteration, Feature Focus, which will support the development of eight first-time feature filmmakers.

Source: Xavier Clarke / Lighthouse

The 2018 Guiding Lights mentees

Beast director Michael Pearce, Notes On Blindness directors James Spinney and Peter Middleton, Moon producer Nicky Bentham, Adult Life Skills director Rachel Tunnard, and Nina Forever team Ben Blaine and Chris Blaine have all signed up to be mentors for the initiative. They are all alumni of the Guiding Lights scheme.

This year’s crop of mentees, all of whom are aiming to make their first feature, are directors Chris Shepherd, Rose Glass, Marie Lidén, Rubika Shah, Corinna Faith and Nick Rowland as well as producers Rebecca Day and Isobel Pietsch. Scroll down to read bios of each mentee.

Guiding Lights is run by Brighton-based agency Lighthouse and is funded by Creative Skillset’s Film Skills Fund with the...

Twenty-two emerging producers to receive up to £2.2m; almost 500 applicants.Scroll Down For Recipients

The BFI has announced the recipients of its 2016-18 Vision Awards, comprising 22 investments in up-and-coming UK producers.

The awards, generally spread over two years, are designed to enable producers to build and develop their companies, slates and creative relationships.

The BFI had intended to give 20 awards but increased that allocation to 22 in response to the number of strong applications it received. Almost 500 companies applied for the awards, which are backed by a total commitment from the BFI of £2.2m of National Lottery funding.

Fifteen of the awards are to women producers or partnerships, while eight of the companies are based outside of London, located in Belfast, Cardiff, Glasgow, Hull, Leeds, Manchester, Sheffield and York.

In a bid to foster sustainability, the third iteration of the Vision Awards will include an allowance to cover a producer’s fees and overheads of up to half...

U.S. Broadcasters Sniffing Round ‘Misfits’ It looks set to be the next Channel 4 drama out of the UK to be adapted for Us TV. Murray Ferguson, who produces the show for youth channel E4, tells me there’s been considerable interest in a possible Us remake from both Us networks and cable channels. Ferguson, CEO of prod co Clerkenwell Films, says nothing’s been decided yet. Showtime is slated to premiere the Us version of Shameless January 9. And MTV is developing another Channel 4 teen drama, Skins. Pathe/Film4 Take On Brit Thriller ‘Sister’ Corinna Faith, a TV director making her feature debut, is attached to write and direct. The producer is Lisa Williams of Free Range Films, and the executive producer is Kevin Loader (Wuthering Heights), who tells me shooting could happen by the end of next year. Sister is a bestselling thriller that’s only just been published here in Britain.

Channel 4 Boss Talks Film David Abraham, CEO of Channel 4, will speak about his channel’s filmmaking for the first time at the British Screen Advisory Council (Bsac) Film Conference on March 3. Ed Vaizey, the UK arts minister, will be giving the other keynote speech. James Corden Starts BBC Comedy Pilot The comedian and actor, who co-created hit BBC sitcom Gavin & Stacey, is filming The Wrong Mans, a single-camera half-hour pilot for the Beeb. Corden has written the show with co-star Matthew Baynton, who was also in Gavin & Stacey. The director is Jim Field Smith (She’s Out of My League), who’s just come off Hugh Jackman-starrer Butter for The Weinstein Company. U.S. Broadcasters Sniffing Round ‘Misfits’ It looks set to be the next Channel 4 drama out of the UK to be adapted for Us TV. Murray Ferguson, who produces the show for youth channel...