23/08/2006

The Union Jack will be flying high at the Venice Film Festival (August 30-September 9) this year with three co-productions screening in competition. Stephen Frears' UK/French film The Queen [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Andy Harries
interview: Stephen Frears
film profile], Alfonso Cuarón’s UK/US film Children of Men and Paul Verhoeven’s Dutch/German/UK film Black Book [+see also:
trailer
film profile] will be presented alongside UK musical film The Magic Flute [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by actor/filmmaker Kenneth Branagh, screening out of competition.

On September 2, Frears, who last came to Venice with Dirty Pretty Things [+see also:
trailer
film profile] in 2002, will be walking the red carpet of the Sala Grande with Helen Mirren as HM Queen Elizabeth II, co-actor Michael Sheen as Tony Blair and writer Peter Morgan, who adapted the story of Queen Elizabeth II and the Royal Family in turmoil during the days immediately following the death of Princess Diana.

The film, produced by Granada Films and Pathé Pictures Production, will be released in the UK and Ireland on September 15 through Pathe Distribution. Over 30 territories have acquired the film from Pathe Pictures International, including Italy (BIM).

On September 3, Mexican director Cuarón (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban) will be accompanied by UK actors Clive Owen, Claire Hope-Ashitey and Chiwetel Ejiofor for the world premiere of I>Children of Men, an adaptation of the PD James novel set in a dystopian London where the human race has become infertile. UIP will release the film in the UK on September 22.

Also competing for the Golden Lion will be Dutch star director Verhoeven’s WWII thriller Black Book, a minority UK co-production produced by Clockwork Pictures. London-based Content Film International sold the film to over 32 territories, including Tartan Film in the UK.

Last but not least, Branagh’s highly anticipated The Magic Flute, based on Mozart’s classic opera, will have the privilege of being screened in Venice’s historical Teatro La Fenice on September 7. The £15.2m film has been sold to over 30 territories by Paris-based Celluloid Dreams.