13/09/2006

After filming the deserts of Rajasthan and the snowy peaks of the Himalayas in his acclaimed debut feature The Warrior [+see also:
trailer
film profile], and a detour in Hollywood, where he shot the supernatural thriller The Return, UK filmmaker Asif Kapadia is back filming under highly challenging conditions for True North. The ambitious UK/French/Norwegian co-production just began shooting this week in the Svalbard archipelago.

For this NOK 56m (€6,7m) project, Kapadia managed to convince Hollywood stars Michelle Yeoh, Sean Bean and Michelle Krusiec (Sweet Home Alabama) to spend at least five weeks in the icy Arctic ocean of Svalbard, between North Norway and the North Pole.

Based on a short film by Sara Maitland, True North is being brought to the screen by Kapadia and his Warrior collaborator Tim Miller. It tells the story of Saiva (Yeoh), who lives with the younger Anja (Krusiec), whom she considers her adopted daughter until a Westerner (Bean) moves into their home and disrupts the harmony between the two women.

London-based production outfit The Bureau is producing, in co-production with Celluloid Dreams in France (who is handling world sales), Film 4 and Ingenious Film Partners, and in collaboration with Petter Borgli’s PJB Picture Company and Film Camp in Norway, and Coficiné, Soficinema, Cofinova and Le Bureau in France.

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