03/11/2006

As fires will be burning across the UK this weekend for the popular celebration of Guy Fawkes Night (November 5) and 20th Century Fox’s Borat, featuring UK comedian Sacha Baron Cohen will surely catch fire with UK audiences, the independent distributors handling the four new European films – Mischief Night, Scenes of Sexual Nature, The Page Turner [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Denis Dercourt
interview: Michel Saint-Jean
film profile] (see focus) and Crime Novel [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Michele Placido
film profile] (see focus) – will be sweating in anticipation over their opening weekend’s box office figures.

Mischief Night does have the perfect storyline as it is set in the lead-up to ‘Mischief Night’, Yorkshire's own brand of annual chaos celebrated on November 4, the day before Guy Fawkes Night. Written and directed by Penny Woolcock, the film is a comedy-drama about two families (one white, one Asian) who come together unexpectedly on a local night of carnival trickery and festivity. Verve Pictures is releasing it with a 98-print run.

Scenes From a Sexual Nature has attracted a lot of coverage, not for the quality of the film itself but, rather, because of the way it was made and finally released. In fact, the way first-time director-producer Ed Blum made the film for under £500,000 in only six weeks, managed to attract key talent such as Ewan McGregor and Sophie Okonedo and then handled the distribution himself – with the help of some UK professionals – could be a perfect test-case for emerging European filmmakers. The UK Film Council is backing the film’s release on 35 screens with initial P&A support of £23,503, which could be increased to £103,533.

Also supported by the UK Film Council with a healthy £150,000 in P&A funds is Michele Placido’s Crime Novel, released today by Icon Film Distribution, who was able to expand the film’s release from 20 to 60 screens. Today’s other key European opener is French thriller The Page Turner by Denis Dercourt, released with 18 prints by Artificial Eye. The film is supported by excellent reviews in the press and a strong poster campaign in London’s underground and media advertising. Finally, distributed on a wider release pattern, by UIP is Working Title’s UK production Sixty Six by Paul Weiland, who recalls for the big screen when his Barmitzvah fell on the same day as the 1966 World Cup.