The year in film 2013: BFI Film Fund
As 2013 draws to a close, we glance back over a year of films backed by the BFI Film Fund.
Broken
Acclaimed theatre director Rufus Norris’s film debut is a coming-of-age story about an 11-year-old girl whose life changes after witnessing a violent incident involving her neighbours.
Directed by Rufus Norris
Produced by Tally Garner, Nick Marston
Notable festivals and awards:
- 2012 Cannes Film Festival
- 2012 BFI London Film Festival
- Best British Independent Film at the 2012 British Independent Film Awards
Shell
The debut feature by Scottish writer-director Scott Graham is a poetic, coming-of-age drama set at a petrol station on a lonely road in the Highlands.
Directed by Scott Graham
Produced by David Smith
Notable festivals:
- 2012 San Sebastian Film Festival
- 2012 BFI London Film Festival
- Best Newcomer (Chloe Pirrie) at the 2013 British Independent Film Awards
The Spirit of ’45
Ken Loach’s archival documentary is an ode to the British postwar spirit that lead to the creation of the National Health Service.
Directed by Ken Loach
Produced by Rebecca O’Brien, Kate Ogborn, Lisa Marie Russo
Notable festivals:
- 2013 Berlin Film Festival
Welcome to the Punch
Shifty director Eran Creevy’s second stars James McAvoy in a violent action thriller set amid the gleaming surfaces of London’s Canary Wharf.
Directed by Eran Creevy
Produced by Rory Aitken, Ben Pugh, Brian Kavanaugh-Jones
Blood
Directed by Nick Murphy
Produced by Pippa Harris
Notable festivals:
- 2012 BFI London Film Festival
Byzantium
Gemma Arterton and Saorise Ronan star as female vampires holed up in a British seaside town in the latest film from Neil Jordan.
Directed by Neil Jordan
Produced by Stephen Woolley
Notable festivals:
- 2012 Toronto International Film Festival
The Comedian
In the first feature by Tom Shkolnik, Edward Hogg plays a thirtysomething working in a call centre while trying to make it as a standup on London’s comedy circuit.
Directed by Tom Shkolnik
Produced by Dan McCulloch
Notable festivals:
- 2012 BFI London Film Festival
Spike Island
The latest film by Mat Whitecross is a riotous rites-of-passage drama set against an era-defining gig by the Stone Roses.
Directed by Mat Whitecross
Produced by Fiona Nelson, Esther Douglas
Notable festivals:
- 2012 BFI London Film Festival
Trap for Cinderella
Directed by Iain Softley
Produced by Robert Jones, Dixie Linder
Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa
Norwich DJ Alan Partridge finds himself at the centre of a hostage situation in this big-screen debut for Steve Coogan’s much-loved sitcom character.
Directed by Declan Lowney
Produced by Kevin Loader, Henry Normal
The Stuart Hall Project
An acclaimed portrait of revolution, politics, culture and the New Left experience by director John Akomfrah.
Directed by John Akomfrah
Produced by Lina Gopaul, David Lawson
Notable festivals:
- 2013 Sundance International Film Festival
InRealLife
Beeban Kidron’s thought-provoking documentary checks in with the first generation to have grown up with the internet.
Directed by Beeban Kidron
Produced by Stephen Lambert
Notable festivals:
- 2013 Toronto International Film Festival
Mister John
The second feature by directing team Joe Lawlor and Christine Molloy (Helen, 2008) is the enigmatic tale of an Irishman who travels to the east to investigate his dead brother’s estate.
Directed by Joe Lawlor, Christine Molloy
Produced by David Collins
Notable festivals:
- 2013 Edinburgh International Film Festival
Smash & Grab: The Story of the Pink Panthers
Directed by Havana Marking
Produced by Mike Lerner
Notable festivals:
- 2013 International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam
For Those in Peril
This atmospheric first feature charts the poetic journey of a young fisherman, the sole survivor of a tragedy at sea.
Directed by Paul Wright
Produced by Mary Burke, Polly Stokes
Notable festivals and awards:
- 2013 British Independent Film Awards – Best Debut Director
- 2013 Cannes Film Festival
- 2013 Edinburgh International Film Festival
- 2013 Toronto International Film Festival
The Pervert’s Guide to Ideology
Directed by Sophie Fiennes
Produced by James Wilson, Martin Rosenbaum, Sophie Fiennes
Notable festivals:
- 2012 Toronto International Film Festival
- 2012 BFI London Film Festival
How I Live Now
Directed by Kevin Macdonald
Produced by Charles Steel, John Battsek, Alasdair Flind
Notable festivals:
- 2013 Cannes Film Festival
- 2013 Toronto International Film Festival
Sunshine on Leith
Directed by Dexter Fletcher
Produced by Allon Reich, Andrew Macdonald, Arabella Paige, Karen Parker
Notable festivals:
- 2013 Toronto International Film Festival
Le Week-end
The latest collaboration between director Roger Michell and screenwriter Hanif Kureishi stars Jim Broadbent and Linsday Duncan as an ageing couple who travel to Paris to rejuvenate their marriage.
Directed by Roger Michell
Produced by Kevin Loader
Notable festivals:
- 2012 Toronto International Film Festival
Last Passenger
Directed by Omid Nooshin
Produced by Ado Yoshizaki, Zack Winfield
The Selfish Giant
Following The Arbor (2010), Clio Barnard’s second film merges social realism with poetic allegory in the story of two young boys working as scrap collectors for an unscrupulous dealer.
Directed by Clio Barnard
Produced by Tracy O’Riordan
Notable festivals:
- 2013 Cannes Film Festival
- 2013 BFI London Film Festival
Philomena
Judi Dench stars an elderly Irish Catholic who receives unexpected help from journalist Martin Sixsmith (Steve Coogan) in her search for her long-lost son.
Directed by Stephen Frears
Produced by Gabrielle Tana
Notable festivals and awards:
- 2013 Venice Film Festival; winner best screenplay
- 2013 Toronto International Film Festival
- 2013 BFI London Film Festival
- 2014 Golden Globe nominations for best actress (Judi Dench), best drama and best screenplay (Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope) – pending
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