British films at Cannes 2017

At the very first Cannes Film Festival, in 1946, David Lean’s Brief Encounter was among the smattering of British titles that screened in competition – and Lean walked away with one of the inaugural grand prizes. This year the festival is celebrating its 70th edition, and UK films and directors again offer much to look forward to throughout the programme, both in competition and beyond.

A Cannes veteran, Lynne Ramsay returns with her first film since 2011’s We Need to Talk about Kevin. Playing in competition, You Were Never Really Here is adapted from a novella of the same name by the American author Jonathan Ames. Starring Joaquin Phoenix, and backed with National Lottery funding through the BFI Film Fund, it tells the story of a war veteran who attempts to save a young girl from a sex trafficking ring.

Also in the main competition is the new film from Yorgos Lanthimos (Dogtooth; The Lobster). A part British co-production, filmed in Ohio, The Killing of a Sacred Deer is a psychological thriller teaming Colin Farrell, Nicole Kidman and Alicia Silverstone.

The festival’s Directors’ Fortnight will see the world premiere of I Am Not a Witch, the debut feature by Welsh-Zambian filmmaker Rungano Nyoni. Backed by the BFI Film Fund and developed through its NETWORK programme with Ffilm Cymru Wales, it was filmed in Zambia and tells the story of a young girl who is exiled to a witch camp in the desert. The film is produced by Emily Morgan of Soda Pictures Ltd, who is the winner of a BFI Vision Award, and Juliette Grandmont of Clandestine Films.

Unveiled in a special screening will be Vanessa Redgrave’s first bout as director, Sea Sorrow, a documentary prompted by the Syrian refugee crisis, while Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire’s French-UK co-production A Prayer before Dawn gets a Midnight screening. The latter is based on the true story of Liverpudlian Billy Moore, who mastered Thai boxing while incarcerated in a Bangkok prison.

The new film from John Cameron Mitchell (Hedwig and the Angry Inch; Shortbus) – his first since 2010’s Rabbit Hole – has also been filmed in Britain, with Sheffield standing in for London. With Elle Fanning, Nicole Kidman and Matt Lucas among the cast, How to Talk to Girls at Parties – screening out of competition – is a sci-fi teen comedy based a short story by Neil Gaiman.

British short films included across the programme include Real Gods Require Blood (Critics’ Week), directed by Moin Hussain and made via the BFI’s NETWORK programme; Wild Horses (Cinéfondation), directed by Rory Stewart; and A Drowning Man (Shorts), directed by Mahdi Fleifel – a UK/Denmark/Greece co-production.

Finally, the 70th Cannes offers up a trio of restored British classics: Bugsy Malone (1976), Chariots of Fire (1981) and Michelangelo Antonioni’s iconic swinging London mystery Blowup (1966), which first screened at Cannes in May 1967 and swept to victory as the winner of that year’s Grand Prix.

The UK Film Centre will be running events and talent talks during the festival. Events will be posted online at weareukfilm.com and you can follow the action on twitter @weareukfilm.