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BBC News
28-05-2025
- Business
- BBC News
BBC Film celebrates four Jury awards at Cannes Film Festival 2025
Four films backed by BBC Film premiered in Official Selection at the Cannes Film Festival 2025, with all four receiving Jury recognition, including three debut features from UK-based filmmakers. The awards were as follows: The Grand Prix was awarded to SENTIMENTAL VALUE, Joachim Trier's poignant, poetic portrait of family dynamics starring Renate Reinsve, Stellan Skarsgård, Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, and Elle Fanning Akinola Davies Jnr's heartfelt father-son tale and directorial debut MY FATHER'S SHADOW, starring Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù, received the Caméra d'Or Special Mention Harry Lighton's debut feature, the provocative romance PILLION starring Alexander Skarsgård and Harry Melling, received the Un Certain Regard Best Screenplay award Frank Dillane received the Un Certain Regard Best Actor award for his magnetic performance in Harris Dickinson's feature directorial debut, URCHIN In addition to the official juries' awards, URCHIN also received the FIPRESCI prize, voted for by international film critics. Eva Yates, Director of BBC Film says of the Cannes awards: 'It has been a privilege to develop and collaborate on four exceptional films selected to screen in Cannes and we are ecstatic that all four have all been recognised by the Cannes juries this past weekend. We're thrilled to see three wildly different and highly original independent debut features from UK-based writer-directors and UK producers - MY FATHER'S SHADOW, PILLION and URCHIN - receive this recognition. And we wholeheartedly congratulate the Grand Prix winning Joachim Trier and the whole SENTIMENTAL VALUE team for this poignant, poetic portrait of family dynamics which will resonate with BBC audiences and cinemagoers worldwide and for many years to come.' About the films: Akinola Davies' MY FATHER'S SHADOW - Un Certain Regard Akinola Davies Jr's feature directorial debut stars Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù (His House, Gangs of London) and is based on a script by Wale Davies and Akinola Davies Jr, whose previous collaboration on BBC Film-backed short Lizard won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance 2021 and was nominated for a BAFTA. MY FATHER'S SHADOW tells the story of two kid brothers, Remi and Akin who get to spend a gift of a day with their estranged father Folarin. They go on a voyage into Lagos observing the colossal city for the first time and the hoops their father must deal with to provide. All this is happening in the backdrop of a huge 1993 presidential election result which calls into question his ability to get them home. MY FATHER'S SHADOW is produced by Rachel Dargavel for Element Pictures and Funmbi Ogunbanwo for Fatherland Productions, who also serviced production on the ground. Executive Producers are Ed Guiney and Andrew Lowe for Element Pictures, Eva Yates for BBC Film and Ama Amapadu for the BFI. Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù, Wale Davies and Akinola Davies Jr also act as executive producers. MY FATHER'S SHADOW was developed by BBC Film and was co-financed by BBC Film and the BFI (awarding National Lottery funding). The Match Factory is handling worldwide sales. MUBI pre-bought all rights in North America, UK, Ireland, and Turkey. Harry Lighton's PILLION - Un Certain Regard PILLION is the debut feature of BAFTA-nominated writer/director Harry Lighton (Wren Boys) and stars Harry Melling (The Pale Blue Eye, The Queen's Gambit) and Emmy and Golden Globe winner Alexander Skarsgård (Big Little Lies, Succession, The Northman). In PILLION a timid man is swept off his feet when an enigmatic, impossibly handsome biker takes him on as his submissive. PILLION is an Element Pictures production financed by BBC Film, BFI (awarding National Lottery funding), Picturehouse Entertainment and September Film who will handle distribution in the UK and Benelux respectively. The screenplay was developed with BBC Film and is based on Adam Mars-Jones' 'Box Hill' which was the 2019 Fitzcarraldo Editions Nobel Prize winner. Producers are Element Pictures' Emma Norton, Ed Guiney and Andrew Lowe together with Lee Groombridge. BBC Film's Eva Yates, Louise Ortega for the BFI, Claire Binns for Picturehouse, September Film's Pim Hermeling, Cornerstone's Alison Thompson and Mark Gooder and Alexander Skarsgård are Executive Producers. A24 have USD rights. Harris Dickinson's URCHIN - Un Certain Regard The feature debut of writer, director and acclaimed actor, Harris Dickinson who also previously made his short film 2003 with BBC Film. Written by Dickinson, the story follows Mike, a rough sleeper in London, trapped in a cycle of self-destruction as he attempts to turn his life around. URCHIN stars Frank Dillane (Harvest, The Walking Dead) as 'Mike', alongside Megan Northam, Amr Waked, Karyna Khymchuk and Shonagh Marie. The film is produced by Archie Pearch for Devisio Pictures and Scott O'Donnell for Somesuch. Developed by BBC Film, URCHIN is financed by BBC Film, BFI (awarding National Lottery funding) and Tricky Knot. Executive Producers are Eva Yates, Ama Ampadu, Alexandra Tynion and Olivia Tyson. Charades is handling international sales, Gersh and UTA Independent Film Group are co-repping the film in the US. Joachim Trier's SENTIMENTAL VALUE - In Competition Trier's sixth feature film stars Renate Reinsve who previously collaborated with Trier for The Worst Person in the World (Academy Award nominee for Best Screenplay and Best International Feature) alongside Stellan Skarsgård, Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, and Elle Fanning. SENTIMENTAL VALUE follows actress Nora (Reinsve) and her sister Agnes (Lilleaas) as their eccentric and charismatic father, Gustav, suddenly reappears in their lives after a long absence. Once a renowned film director, Gustav now offers Nora the lead role in his new film, but working with her father is the last thing she wants. The film is produced by Maria Ekerhovd for Mer Film and Andrea Berentsen Ottmar for Eye Eye Pictures in Norway. A Norwegian, French, German, Danish, and Swedish co-production, the co-producers are MK Productions, Nathanael Karmitz and Lumen Production, Juliette Schrameck for France; Komplizen Film, Jonas Dornbach and Janine Jackowski for Germany; Zentropa, Sisse Graum and Lizette Jonjic for Denmark and Sweden; Film I Väst, Kristina Åkeson; and BBC Film, Eva Yates for the UK and Ireland. Additional support comes from Arte Grand Accord, Oslo Filmfond, and Storyline. Mk2 Films are handling international sales and NEON is handling US distribution. SENTIMENTAL VALUE is financed with partners including the Norwegian Film Institute, the Swedish Film Institute, The Danish Film Institute, Arte, Medienboard Berlin Brandenburg, FFA, and Eurimages. CG
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Actor-Turned-Director Harris Dickinson and His Breakout Star Frank Dillane on Their Cannes Stunner ‘Urchin'
It's hard these days to create an original film from scratch, tougher still to launch a first film in the Cannes Selection. Three actors have achieved that feat this year, all playing in Un Certain Regard, where the spotlight tends to be less harsh: Scarlett Johansson's 'Eleanor the Great,' starring American veteran June Squibb; Kristen Stewart's 'The Chronology of Water,' starring British actress Imogen Poots; and from the U.K., Harris Dickinson's 'Urchin,' which will propel Frank Dillane (son of British actor Stephen Dillane) into Best Actor Oscar contention if a distributor does right by it. All the key North American distributors attended the debut on Saturday after good word leaked out of early New York screenings. Yes, it played well. 'The applause was lovely,' said Dickinson, sitting with Dillane on the roof of the J.W. Marriott Hotel with stunning views of the Gulf of Napoule. 'We soaked it all in. We had all of our crew. We felt the love in the room. That's a good feeling, to have given so much to somebody.' More from IndieWire Jodie Foster: 'Silence of the Lambs' Filmmaker Jonathan Demme Is My 'Favorite Feminist Director' LA Mayor Karen Bass Wants to Cut the Red Tape Required to Get a Movie Made in Hollywood Dickinson, who has yet to crack 30, has been a rising star ever since he broke out in Eliza Hittman's New York indie 'Beach Rats' in 2017, followed by Ruben Östlund's 'Triangle of Sadness,' which won the Palme d'Or en route to a Best Picture nomination. The actor has written and directed countless shorts, which gave financiers confidence to back his riveting portrait of a struggling London addict (Dillane) who is by turns charming, manipulative, desperate, angry, violent, loving, joyful, childlike, and needy. It still took six years for 'Urchin' to get to Cannes. Dickinson started writing the script after working in Walthamstow on an outreach project 'that was focusing on furniture reissue with people that were unhoused,' he said. 'It was a way for them to make money. And it was also a commune where they could have a safe haven. There were welfare checks, and people close to me struggled with cyclical behavior. I've always tried to be compassionate around that and tried to understand why and how people have ended up in certain positions.' Dickinson auditioned many actors but offered the role to Dillane early on. 'I'd seen him in 'Fear of the Walking Dead' years before,' said Dickinson. 'I was intrigued about him as a performer. But then we didn't cross paths, or we never met each other. The script for me was one thing. I knew that it needed an actor to come in and elevate it and change it and turn it upside down as well. Because there's only so much a script takes you, right? And that's what he did. He was doing tai chi and breathing exercises whilst he was doing the scene: 'This is very strange, and it's perfect for the character.'' It took a couple of years to get made once Dillane was on board. 'Frank attached before we had full finance, which is rare for an actor to do,' said Dickinson. 'We were lucky that Frank believed in the project enough to just say, 'Yeah, I'm game.' And we already were prepping, even though we didn't know we were going to make it.' As soon as he read the script, Dillane was eager to jump on board. 'I remember I called you because I got the part,' Dillane said to Dickinson, 'because I just wanted to say 'yes' straight away. I didn't want there to be any lag, to go through the agents. You were in Berlin, so I was recording 'Yes, I'll do it.' The script lent itself to almost anything. It was a real opportunity to carve out our own narrative, because it was ambiguous as to what the arc was, and it seemed like the arcs completed in each scene. It was almost like Mike had no throughline, and I found that exciting as an actor, to do each scene separate from the next one. He almost lived and breathed now. He was born again, and then he dies again, and then he goes there, and he's born again. And I loved that about Harris's script, because it was completely unconventional.' In one heartbreaking scene, after seven months sober, Mike takes some ketamine with his girlfriend and her parents and is dancing and having a joyous time. He feels like he's part of the family, everybody's happy and good, and then he takes too much, and he can't contain it. He doesn't know where to stop. Dillane had played an addict during 'Fear the Walking Dead.' 'When a character is on drugs at different times,' said Dillane, 'I always tend to research the spiritual element of the drug. From researching 'Fear the Walking Dead,' the idea about heroin that got me was the idea that your cells are living and dying constantly, so you're constantly dying and being reborn. That stuck with me a bit with this, the idea of physically continuing to be born and dying.' The movie works because Dillane makes you care about this deeply flawed yet innocent character. 'People that have gone to the brink of behavior,' said Dickinson, 'the brink of morality, or brink of themselves, often are also joyous and naïve, because it helps them forget. It's like an optimism that is in the moment for today.' 'He is innocent,' said Dillane. 'That was the core of it. In order for us to be with him and to empathize with him, we have to just forgive him. And the reason we forgive him is he's a child, he's innocent, he's an orphan. He's not a bad person, just an open window. Harris kept distilling this thing of hope within me. We talked a lot about dignity in Harris. And that allowed the authenticity. So when he's making a friend, this friend that he's making is so important to him. When he relapses, it's like family, 'Finally, my people, oh, this is OK. Now, this is what we do. Everyone's just cool.' Some of us, we can't do that. Unfortunately, Mike is one of those. It's like an open window. Once you open it, you can't close it again.' Of course, Mike Leigh and 'Naked' came to mind while prepping the film, but also 'Career Girls' and 'High Hopes,' said Dickinson, 'there's no misses with Mike Leigh. I love his use of humor. He's so good at humanizing the mundane as well. It's important, because there's comedy in the simplicity of things sometimes, he does that so well.' Another reason why Dillane wanted to work with Dickinson was that he admired his short films. 'This was a big reason I did it,' said Dillane. Dickinson had been shooting shorts, including a series of skateboard videos, since he was 10 or 11. 'I made loads of short films,' he said. 'And then I made a more professional short film with BBC that led to the theatrical film. It was quite a rudimentary short, but it was a way for us to try and prove a little bit.' As production loomed, Dickinson lost one of his actors in a key role playing a friend of Mike's and reluctantly took on the role himself. 'We auditioned people,' said Dickinson. 'We got some tapes in, but I got a bit protective over that role because this is a member of the community. This is someone who is struggling, a vulnerable individual. Frank had months and months of research and time spent with advisors to understand this world and these issues. I couldn't just expect an actor to pop in a week before and get that kind of person, whereas I'd been doing that work.' It may have been the right decision, but it wasn't easy, said Dickinson. 'It was hard to direct myself and also be in a scene with someone you're directing, because I started to lose track of the background and what things were happening. And you get even more neurotic; acting is neurotic.' The film deploys long lens cinematography to capture Dillane on crowded streets. 'We always knew we wanted to enter into Mike's world in a pragmatic and simplistic way, unromantic and not trying to do trickery around life on the streets,' said Dickinson. 'We wanted to be observational and simplistic, and that was also to avoid any romanticism around it, but also just to ground it in that community. That was always important to us, and the story that we enter into as well. We believe it and we understand it, and we get a real sense of it. And then we allow ourselves to introduce surrealism, a slightly different language. We earned that.' Next up: Dillane is going home to London to do some auditions. (His stock is going to rise considerably after 'Urchin.') And Dickinson is following up 'Babygirl' and 'Blitz' as John Lennon in Sam Mendes' series of four Beatles films. Dickinson swears he'll have time to do other things as well. 'I wrote this script whilst I was working,' he said, 'I didn't take time out to write the script. I was always writing. I write when I'm on a plane. I'll be able to write and direct still. I'll have to finish the films first.'Best of IndieWire Quentin Tarantino's Favorite Movies: 65 Films the Director Wants You to See The 19 Best Thrillers Streaming on Netflix in May, from 'Fair Play' to 'Emily the Criminal' Martin Scorsese's Favorite Movies: 86 Films the Director Wants You to See
Malay Mail
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Malay Mail
‘Stubbornness to exist': Chile's ‘The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo' wins Cannes' Un Certain Regard honours for queer storytelling
CANNES, May 24 — Chilean director Diego Cespedes' first feature, 'The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo,' won the Cannes Film Festival's second-tier Un Certain Regard category on Friday evening. The film set in the early 1980s centres around a queer family in Chile and the onset of the AIDS epidemic. 'This award doesn't celebrate perfection. It celebrates that fear, that stubbornness to exist just as we are, even when it makes others uncomfortable,' said Cespedes while accepting the prize. This year's Un Certain Regard section, which usually focuses on more art-house fare, was particularly strong, with several promising directorial debuts from actors including Scarlett Johansson, Harris Dickinson and Kristen Stewart. 'Once Upon a Time in Gaza,' which follows a low-level drug dealer and his underling in the coastal enclave the year the Islamist group Hamas took over, earned a directing award for Palestinian twin filmmakers Arab and Tarzan Nasser. To everyone in Gaza, 'to every single Palestinian: your lives matter and your voice matters, and soon Palestine will be free,' said Tarzan Nasser, eliciting a standing ovation. Colombian director Simon Mesa Soto's dark comedy exploring the art world, 'A Poet,' received the runner-up Jury Prize. Frank Dillane, who stars in Dickinson's well-received debut about a homeless man, 'Urchin,' took home best performance along with Cleo Diara, who stars in Portuguese director Pedro Pinho's exploration of neo-colonialism, 'I Only Rest in the Storm.' The screenplay award went to British director Harry Lighton and his Alexander Skarsgard-led kinky romance 'Pillion.' — Reuters
The Guardian
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
‘Revelatory, magnetic, unknown': how Frank Dillane became a star at Cannes
Few actors make an instant impact on their first major film festival appearance, but Frank Dillane, star of fellow actor Harris Dickinson's directing debut Urchin, is one of them. Critics are near-unanimous in their praise, with Variety calling his performance 'revelatory', and IndieWire describing it as 'magnetic'. Influential film industry publication Deadline said that Dillane 'arrived in Cannes a virtual unknown, but Harris Dickinson's directorial debut has made him a star'. In Urchin, Dillane plays Mike, a man living on the streets who ends up in jail after committing an assault and then struggles to go straight after his release. Despite being given a place in a hostel and helped into employment, Mike is tempted to fall back into his old ways. With a script written by Dickinson, Dillane committed to the role by trying full-immersion method acting, saying: 'I spent a lot of time in soup kitchens, a lot of time with people, friends, walking around … You're carrying your stuff, your feet hurt, your back hurts. It's the weather. You can never close a door. You can't sit here, you can't stand there, move it along. No one's looking at you.' Calling Dillane, 34, an 'unknown' is not entirely accurate. Millions will have seen him in the small but eye-catching role of teenage Tom Riddle in the 2009 picture Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. He also held down a significant role in the first four seasons of hit zombie TV series Fear the Walking Dead as heroin addict Nick Clark, and starred alongside Tom Hiddleston and Claire Danes in the Apple TV+ series The Essex Serpent, adapted from the novel by Sarah Perry. The son of Game of Thrones star Stephen Dillane and Naomi Wirthner, best known as records keeper Molly Doran in Slow Horses, he – like Spider-Man's Tom Holland, Nosferatu's Lily-Rose Depp, and fellow Cannes breakout star Mia Threapleton – may count as a 'nepo baby' but earned his corn by spending three years at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art between 2010 and 2013. But his stock has undoubtedly shot up as a result of Urchin's impact at Cannes, where it was selected for the Un Certain Regard sidebar. Guy Lodge, the UK critic for Variety, says that 'it feels like he's finally taking a step into serious character actor territory'. As well as Urchin, Dillane has impressed critics in another film that has so far played only at film festivals: Harvest, directed by Athina Rachel Tsangari, which premiered at Venice in 2024. Lodge says: 'It's a completely different part in terms of register, period and relationship to the audience. It took me a while to connect both performances to the actor: he's clearly versatile and vanity-free, which bodes well for the next phase of his career.' Part of Dillane's appeal is his versatile, non-intrusive masculinity; alongside Paul Mescal and Josh O'Connor (who also made attention-grabbing appearances in Cannes films this year), he is part of a generation of what Mescal describes as 'post-alpha male' film stars. Hannah Strong, digital editor of Little White Lies magazine, says Dillane, 'projects a sweetness and softness that can just as quickly become all hard edges, the twinkle in his eyes evaporating entirely'. Strong adds: 'Urchin rests on his shoulders, and it's Dillane's ability to turn on a dime from charming to troubling with total believability that brings Dickinson's words to life.' Dillane has been acting since he was six years old, having first appeared on screen as an extra in Welcome to Sarajevo, the 1997 film based on ITN reporter Michael Nicholson's time as a war correspondent during the Bosnian war, in which Dillane's father was the lead actor. The pair were cast together 15 years later in the 2012 British independent comedy Papadopoulos & Sons; Stephen again played the lead, a British Greek businessman who loses his fortune, and Frank (inevitably perhaps) played his son. In between, Dillane secured his Harry Potter role via an open casting call that took place in 2007. Dillane Jr's career, however, took off after he struck out on his own having appeared in Fear the Walking Dead and the Ron Howard-directed whaling epic In the Heart of the Sea in 2015. He then built his CV with roles in Caitlin Moran comedy How to Build a Girl, as surgeon Luke Garrett in The Essex Serpent, and as crooked antiques dealer Boisie Hannington in ITV miniseries Joan. Now Urchin has elevated Dillane to the front rank of young British male leads and he is a potential rival, ironically, to Dickinson himself.
Washington Post
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Washington Post
Harris Dickinson is one of the most in-demand actors, but he had to direct a film first
CANNES, France — Harris Dickinson is sitting on a rooftop terrace in Cannes, trying to find all the movie tattoos on his body. There's a little one for 2001's 'Donnie Darko,' but there's a much larger one on his arm for 'Kes,' Ken Loach's seminal British social realism drama from 1969. 'I'm sure there's a few more on my legs,' Dickinson says, smiling. 'I can't remember.' But the spirit of Loach runs strong in Dickinson's directorial debut, 'Urchin.' The film, which premiered the Un Certain Regard section of the Cannes Film Festival, stars Frank Dillane as a homeless London drug addict. A sensitive and preceptive character study, 'Urchin' has been widely hailed as a standout at Cannes. Just as the 28-year-old Dickson, who starred in last year's 'Babygirl,' is emerging as a major movie star, he's revealed himself to be a filmmaker to watch, too. 'Before we screened, I was debilitated by nerves,' Dickinson said the day after the premiere. 'I felt so vulnerable — which I do normally with acting, but not as much. I suddenly realized what an exposing thing this is. Like you said, it's showing a different side of myself and putting that out there to be obliterated.' But Dickinson, who first emerged in Eliza Hitman's 2017 film 'Beach Rats,' only expanded audience's notions of him with 'Urchin.' As he explained in an interview, making it was important enough to him, even if it meant sacrificing parts at the very moment Hollywood won't stop calling. Next, Dickinson will star as John Lennon in Sam Mendes' four-film Beatles project. DICKINSON: I wanted to direct from a very young age. I wanted to make films. I was making these skateboard videos and I was doing a lot of short films on YouTube. I had a web series where I would release episodes weekly. It was like a sketch show. That was first love, just making things. Acting kind of kicked off a little bit once 'Beach Rats' came out at Sundance. It was weird. I had to earn my stripes, of course, as an actor. But I couldn't go to film school because I was acting. So I just carried on my own interest in it and thought: Hopefully someday I can do it. Then the short film happened and the BBC took a chance on me, commissioning 'Urchin.' DICKINSON: Hard to figure out, yeah. And particularly when we're in a world where people don't always love someone trying to doing multiple things. And rightly so. There are times when you shouldn't be trying to be a basketball player, or whatever. A lot of people do go, 'Oh, I fancy doing that now,' particularly when they get to a more successful position. But this has always been a love of mine and I've just been waiting for the moment to do it. It's strange as well because I'm also at a point in my acting where I had to take a lot of time out to make this film. But I wouldn't have wanted it any other way. DICKINSON: Yeah, for sure. But it's easy to say no to things. 'Urchin' was all I could think about it. It was pouring out of me. It was all that was on my mind. It's easy to say no when you've got something to take you away from that, you know? Nothing that came in would make me question my own film, which is a sign that I had to make it at this time. I don't know, maybe that sounds self-important. DICKINSON: The discovery of Mike happened over a long time. I really started with the intention to create a very focused character study of someone who was ultimately battling against themselves. I wanted to show a full person in all of their ugliness and all of their humanity and their charm. And that was a hard process to get right. It also happened with Frank, who came on and tapped into those things so beautifully. I kept coming back to the no judgment thing, not allowing us to feel sorry for him too much. Just observe him and go through situations and see how he acts. DICKINSON: He can't transcend his own behavior, which is so common for a lot of people, especially when they've been through a certain degree of trauma. How do you get out of that? How do you change your behavior? When your support network's gone, even the institution is not enough to get someone out of these cycles. As people, what interests me is that we're an incredibly advanced civilization but at the end of the day, we're quite rudimentary in our design. We're quite basic in the way we go back to things. DICKINSON: I'm always a bit reluctant to talk about this because it's something I've been doing in private and not trying to be like a heroic thing of a cause. I'm just a minor, minor part of a much bigger cause that is ultimately made up hundred of thousands of individuals that are collectively working toward change. But it was always important to have the bones of this film lay in that space. It had to have the uncurrent to it. It had to have that factual reality to it. And, yeah, Loach, Meadows. Ken Loach, he's one of the greats, for good reason. He's made incredibly important films. And I don't know if this film has the through line of a social realism drama or a social political film. I think it has the beginnings of it because we enter the world and then stay there very observationally. But then the language changes. DICKINSON: I hope so. I hope people let me do it again. That's the goal. But it takes a lot of you. I think my partner is probably happy for me to not be a neurotic person for a bit. DICKINSON: I'll probably be neurotic, as well. I'll probably be just as neurotic. ___ Jake Coyle has covered the Cannes Film Festival since 2012. He's seeing approximately 40 films at this year's festival and reporting on what stands out. ___ For more coverage of the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, visit:
