Northwest Filmmakers take over Cannes Film Festival

Northwest Vision and Media, who work on behalf of the digital and creative industries in the Northwest, are taking Cannes by storm by not only selecting thirteen regional shorts to be screened at the prestigious film festival, but also supporting four Northwest businesses to attend.

In addition to all this, Ken Loach’s latest film, Looking For Eric, which was shot in the Northwest and part funded by Northwest Vision and Media will receive its world premiere at the festival. Looking For Eric will be Ken Loach’s ninth film to receive its World Premiere In Competition on the 18th May. The UK premiere takes place in Manchester on the 1st June and opens in cinemas across the UK from the 12th June.

All thirteen of the films selected will be screened in the festival’s Short Film Corner and range in theme, from a heartfelt story of a son and father dealing with death, to a documentary looking into the world of French wild pigeon hunters.

In its 62nd year, the festival sees the great and the good of the film industry descend on Cannes in the French Riviera. Each of the short film makers will be showcasing their shorts alongside films from all over the world.

The short films selected to attend this year are:

Sertoli, Sertoli, Sertoli by Owen Williams and Adam White
Broken Britain by Mark Ashmore
Dead Dog by Edward Jefferys (dir) and Loren Slater
Duty Calls by Paul Blinkhorn
Enough Rope by Lynn Harwood
Fresh Meat by Dave Beauchamp and Sarah Ellis
George’s Day by Dave Whitney
Kinesiology by Richard Shaw
Lillie by Natasha Kalyuzhnaya (dir) and Janine Dawson
Live Before You Die by Tom Lloyd
Sandman by Dave Beauchamp and Sarah Ellis
The Reapers by Nick Jordan
The Wake by Kerry Kolbe (dir) and Loren Slater

Northwest Vision and Media have also awarded bursaries to four film makers to enable them to attend the event and further promote themselves or their company. These include Mark Ashmore a Salford based filmmaker whose short film, Broken Britain, has been selected to be shown at the Short Film Corner. He is currently continuing the international theme by working with a Spanish Co-Producer.

David Whitney, whose digital short George's Day is also being screened this year, will be using his time in Cannes to participate in "new talent speed dating,” as well as looking for sales agents and distribution for his feature, which he self-funded. Having recently been accepted into the Producers Network, Sarada McDermott is attending the festival to further her Northern Souls projects. The final film maker to be awarded the bursary is Lynne Harwood who directed digital short Enough Rope. She will also be doing "new talent speed dating" and is looking for partners on her project Iris.

Head of Film for Northwest Vision and Media, Tara Cook, comments, “Here in the Northwest we have a vast amount of film making talent and I am delighted that are we are able to showcase so many great projects at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival. It’s an ideal opportunity for the region’s work to be seen on the international stage as well as encourage foreign projects to consider the region as a filming destination.”