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Photos from top: Scenes from Dot The I, The Day I Will Never Forget and Song For A Raggy Boy
sundance report
home from home
The Sundance Festival boosts British and Irish filmmakers. Iva Schroeder reports on the ‘superior showcase’ in Utah.
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There is palpable tension in Park City’s Egyptian Theatre during the world premiere of Song for a Raggy Boy, a stunning period feature based on a true story of physical and emotional abuse at a boys’ reformatory in Ireland.
A standing ovation follows the closing credits. Irish director Aisling Walsh struggled with her produc- ers through six years of false starts, contract hell and heartbreak to secure (Irish)£2.5 million financing, never losing passion for the proj- ect. Nor did Irish-American star Aidan Quinn, who resisted his agent’s plea, “Don’t get on the plane (to County Cork). There’s no money in escrow.”
It is mainly on the strength of such commitment from cast and crew that ‘smaller’ films of inde- pendent vision get produced and exhibited. The co-produc- tion deal closed during principal photography, with finance from the Irish Film board, the Danish Film Institute, Lola Films, Zentropa and Eurimages.
Helping to facilitate such story- telling was the intent some 20 years ago of Sundance’s founder, Robert Redford. He and Festival Director Geoffrey Gilmore are also commit- ted to the inclusion of emerging international cinematic voices.
“There’s such a cross-fertilisa- tion between the British and American independent worlds,” Gilmore explains.
“Nearly one third of features here are foreign. Particularly English-language films. Everything from Shine to The Full Monty world premiered at Sundance.”
Some argue that Sundance has strayed from its indie roots, given the significant number of pre-sold films that have high-pro- file directors and talent attached.
Gilmore responds, “The per- verseness of making that argu- ment – always made by people who I call purists – is that when you sit down and examine it, it doesn’t make sense. Of 120 fea- tures here now, 90 don’t have distribution. And the vast majority of films here were made for under $1m.”
One such film is Duncan Roy’s BAFTA-nominated AKA, a provoca- tive study on class and reinvention. Roy raised AKA’s $30,000 budget by selling his house.
“Even though I’m a working class lad, I’ve embraced that middle-class thing of being tena- cious. You don’t need to have an American-type film with a Robert McKee story structure in order to get on here,” he said.
AKA is represented by Portman Films, whose prior festival successes include Saving Grace and Bloody Sunday. Tristan Whalley explains that after a small UK platform release, “We’re here to position AKA for the rest of the world – it’s a lynchpin for AFM and Cannes.”
This year, Gilmore has beefed up his investment in a full service sales and industry office – with industry registration up 30 per cent from last year – and launched a World Cinema Documentary Program which includes British director/producer Kim Longinotto’s compelling film, The Day I Will Never Forget.
International programmer Caroline Libresco asserts, “the new section is a way for us to support a diverse aesthetic for documentary. There are also at least 75 foreign feature buyers and sellers here happy to view foreign material, hoping to scoop their colleagues. And American buyers look for re- make rights – as with Intacto last year – and new talent.”
Robert Jones, Head of the UK Film Council’s Premier Fund, and Paul Trijbits, Head of the New Cinema Fund – both seasoned Utah visitors – agree that Sundance remains a superior showcase platform.
Jones explains, “I came here as a producer with Simon Magus in 2000. It was a difficult film com- mercially. A couple of important critics such as Kenneth Turan of the LA Times really went for it. Out of that it got US distribution. All the indie film buyers are here; Fox Searchlight to Miramax. It’s hard- er to sell foreign rights, but you can come to Sundance with a
small film for not a lot of money to good result.”
“Flicking back to Bloody Sunday,” says Trijbits, who sank £287,500 of New Cinema Fund money into the project, “As a launch pad it was the most wonderful place, going on to Berlin. And winning the World Cinema Audience Award here was a big accolade.”
Dot The I producers Meg Thomson and George Duffield are hoping to find similar good fortune with a domestic deal for their quirky, $5m dark comedy, and are here with British director Matthew Parkhill’s debut feature starring Gael García Bernal of Y tu Mamá También fame. A UK pre-sell to Momentum, Dot was financed by Summit Entertainment and Spanish co-producer Alquimia Cinema, with a UK sale and leaseback.
Elaine Chin, Director of Development of HBO Films’ Division, affirms, “Sundance is the place where UK films can get some kind of legitimacy – it’s pretty critical.”
Sundance veteran Gurinder Chadha, whose What’s Cooking secured US distribution after screening in 2000, adds, “once a Sundance person, the Institute always keeps abreast of what you are doing. They like to take their writers and directors into the industry beyond just a festi- val screening.”
But such plaudits come with qualification. Charlotte Mickie, managing director of International Sales for Motion Pictures at Alliance Atlantis advis- es Brits: “You have to weigh up the options. If you decide to come, try to position your film with a certain amount of hype so that people take it seriously.
“Contact all the American buyers in advance, and try to find journalist friends who can do some word-of-mouth prior. You’re gonna have to go the extra mile.”