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CANNES
VEE-REVIEW
NEWSDESK
VEE-TALENT
Dear Frankie
| Nectar | The Man Who
Met Himself |
The Great Ecstasy of Robert Carmichael
Dear Frankie was first shown at last year's Cannes festival and has just been released on DVD. It's a film about a mother trying to protect her deaf son from the truth about his absent father.
The boy is played by Jack McElhone – who is not deaf. 'Some asked me at
the time why I had not cast a deaf boy,' the director, Shona Auerbach, has said.
'I had no problem with this idea, and did meet deaf children too, but at the
end of the day Jack was the best actor for Frankie, and he just had to adapt
himself, just like any actor in a role. Having said this, I did not want my
deaf advisers to leave my side while we were filming, because it was crucial
for me to get it right.'
Dear Frankie is a tearjerker, but you shouldn't need to reach for your
sick-bag. The story is deftly handled, well acted, and not without surprises.
Nectar is a short film about a deaf swimmer, Walter Kendall, who at the age of 17 seemed destined for glory. But on the eve of his selection for the Olympic squad, Walter faces a crisis: is this really what he wants from life?
Nectar is written and directed by Liz Crow, founder of Roaring Girl
Productions. Accessibility is as top priority for the company, which is 'working
to make captioning, sign language, audio description and other means of access
an integral part of the creative process rather than an access add-on'.
For more information about Roaring Girls Productions and Nectar, including
details of any future screenings, check out www.roaring-girl.com.
The Man Who Met Himself, written and directed by Ben
Crowe, was an official selection in this year's short film category at Cannes.
It's the story of a private detective investigating the case of a man who committed
suicide. What really happened? Did the man fake his own death, or do doppelgangers
really exist?
'We don't understand suicide and as a society we don't do enough to prevent
it,' says Crowe. 'We accept that people kill themselves, but what drives people
to it is rarely discussed, and its aftermath is ignored.'
For more information, see www.browncrowe.co.uk.
In a small English coastal town, a teenage boy is tempted into an assault on the home of smug television chef that leads to a bloodbath. The boys' actions horrify their sleepy community and expose its deepest jealousies.
With brutal scenes of rape and torture that have set hardened hacks jostling
for the exit, The Great Ecstasy of Robert Carmichael is the debut feature
of 24-year-old British writer/director Thomas Clay. It was a selection for the
Critics' Week at Cannes. Shot predominantly on location, the film certainly
looks good, thanks to the camerawork of acclaimed cinematographer Yogros Arvanitis.
'It's about the way that values and ideals which allow something like Iraq or
Nicaragua to happen are being expressed in subtler ways in our own society,'
Clay says.
Not one to watch with your mum.
For more information, check out www.boudufilm.com.
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