barnesgonzo: Trailer Trash

Monday, April 29, 2013

Trailer Trash

British films start to emerge in the run-up to Cannes, and Sundance makes an uncertain return to London

Out of the Cannes

Following the exclusion of British films from the main competitions at Cannes, a couple of silver linings did appear, with The Arbor director Clio Barnard's follow-up, The Selfish Giant, being picked for Directors' Fortnight and Paul Wright's debut, For Those in Peril, produced by the ever-edgy Warp Films, settling into Critics' Week. In an interview with Cannes boss Thierry Frémaux, it even emerged that he quite fancied Barnard's film for the main competition but couldn't (or wouldn't) nab it back from the Quinzaine selectors. So that's good. Other strong British titles bubbling under – though they won't be at Cannes – include Richard Ayoade's The Double, Jonathan Glazer's Under the Skin, Steve McQueen's Twelve Years a Slave, the latest new Michael Winterbottom movie (there's always one on the way), as well as new films from Ben Wheatley, Roger Michell and the film debut of playwright Debbie Tucker Green. Yes, there is plenty of activity still in British cinema. We just have to make sure it has ambition and that audiences – aided by the faith of our own cinemas and exhibitors – support it.

Sundance or sunset

All of this has made it hard to get excited about Sundance's arrival in London. I have to admit my surprise that it turned up again. I nipped in last year, to the unwieldy cinematic environs of the O2, to find a crushing lack of atmosphere and passion. This year's programme feels even more random, a mix of strange music gigs and indie films with not much buzz. Does anyone here really care about the Eagles reuniting for a doc about them? Surely we've enough trouble getting our own films to audiences without worrying about micro-budget American indies gaining exposure. Seems to me Sundance is worried about the rise of the SXSW (South by Southwest) festival in Austin, Texas, where music and film seem to have combined to impressive effect in recent years and where the cool movies are now playing. Can we have a British version of that festival, maybe?

Gimme the lot

As if to illustrate, one of my favourite indies of recent years was a winner at SXSW. Released here this week, the wonderful Gimme the Loot also played at Cannes and London last year and is the story of hot summer days in New York as Malcolm and Sofia (Ty Hickson and Tashiana Washington) try to get their ambitious graffiti plans together. It reminded me a little of Spike Lee's She's Gotta Have It. Like my good self, Jonathan Demme fell in love with it when he saw it and became a champion. It has a great soundtrack of scratchy old soul and disco, including a wonderful version of I Shall Be Released by Marion Williams. Even more significantly, it has a British producer, Dominic Buchanan, now working on a film called Lilting over here, starring Ben Whishaw.

Turner prize

The legendary six-month rehearsal process is over and the cast and director of U13 – as the project is currently known – are ready to begin shooting next month. We're talking about Mike Leigh's film about the artist JMW Turner, a passion project that has meant the great director has been uncharacteristically off the big screen since 2010's Another Year. Last week, I saw Leigh at the launch of the London Film School's ambitious plans to move to a site in one of the Barbican's exhibition halls, a £10m project that he is helping to oversee as he continues as the school's enthusiastic chairman. "As with anything I do," said Leigh with characteristic irony, "it's all about getting the funding." At least with the LFS, Leigh can be open about the plans. He wouldn't say too much about the Turner film. I can confirm that longtime collaborator Marion Bailey has a large role, w and that Timothy Spall is Turner. I do suspect one thing: Cannes 2014 has its first British contender.