Blighty screenings falling down
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This decision follows years of grumbling about the uncontrollable growth of the London Screenings. It started out as a relaxed and exclusive preamble to Mifed, but has evolved into an unwieldy monster -- expensive, inefficient and frustratingly resistant to organization.
Even the British sales companies have long since lost patience with the London event. A survey last year by trade org U.K. Film Export of international buyers and sellers revealed overwhelming support for a return to a single fall market, with Mifed the favored choice. All that now remains is for the Mifed organizers to come up with the upgrade in facilities the sales companies are demanding.
PLETHORA OF PIC POSSIBILITIES
Last year, the U.K. media whipped itself into a lather of recrimination over the failure of any British movies to win selection for the Cannes Film Festival. So prepare for an outburst of equally thick-headed triumphalism when the 2002 lineup gets announced.
Near certainties, even at this early stage, include Mike Leigh's "All or Nothing," Lynne Ramsay's "Morvern Callar" and Neil Jordan's "Double Down" (OK, so he's Irish, but his company is based in London).
Michael Winterbottom will be pitching "24 Hour Party People," with the bait of a Croisette concert by Manchester rock legends New Order. Stephen Frears may be ready to offer the Miramax-financed "Dirty Pretty Things," starring French belle du jour Audrey Tautou.
Also strongly in the running will be Ken Loach's "Sweet Sixteen," Peter Mullan's "Magdalene," Shane Meadows' "Once Upon a Time in the Midlands," Oliver Parker's "The Importance of Being Earnest" (angling for an out-of-competition slot), Damien O'Donnell's "Heartlands" and Gurinder Chadha's "Bend It Like Beckham."
And let's not forget the fellow travelers: David Cronenberg's "Spider," set, produced and financed in Britain; and Phillip Noyce's "Rabbit-Proof Fence," exec produced by Brit veteran Jeremy Thomas.
In fact, the Cannes selectors look like being spoilt for choice. This year's feast, contrasting last year's famine, just reflects the normal ebbs and flows of the filmmaking calendar. But cue articles anyway about the dramatic revival of the British film industry.
SEEN AROUND TOWN
Working Title Films has optioned "Blessed Are the Cheesemakers" by debut novelist Sarah-Kate Lynch, an Irish writer based in New Zealand. It's a magical realist romantic comedy set in an Irish dairy. The book, due to be published in the spring, was picked up by WT lit exec Amelia Granger, in only her second acquisition (the first was the Internet saga "boo.com" last December) since filling the post 2½ years ago. The project has been routed to low-budget arm WT2 for development … Producer Jeremy Thomas has optioned J.G. Ballard's latest novel "Super-Cannes" for John Maybury ("Love Is the Devil") to direct. Paul Mayersberg ("Croupier) is writing the thriller set in the world of high tech.
