SALES
Caroline Stern’s Canoe Film has boarded international sales for feature documentary “I Get Knocked Down,” where Dunstan Bruce features alongside his former Chumbawamba band members to reveal the little known history of the anarchist punk band which suddenly found itself at the top of the charts globally in 1997. Chumbawumba‘s “Tubthumping” reached number 1 in Australia, Canada, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand and the U.S. as well going top ten in Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland and Sweden and the U.K.. The album went quadruple platinum in both the U.S. and Canada.
The documentary is produced by award winning filmmaker Sophie Robinson (“The Surgeon’s Cut,” “My Beautiful Broken Brain”) and co-directed by Robinson and Bruce. The film had its world premiere at Sheffield Doc/Fest this year.
Canoe will premiere the film at the virtual AFM (Nov. 1-5) as part of a slate of acclaimed feature documentaries which includes Toronto and Tribeca selection “Underplayed,” Hot Docs winner “Keyboard Fantasies: The Beverly Glenn-Copeland Story” and London and Warsaw selection “One Man and His Shoes.”
CASTING
BAFTA-nominee Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù (“His House,” “Gangs of London”) is attached to star in “Uncle,” a revenge thriller directed by Joe Marcantonio (“Kindred”).
After the brutal murder of their family, barely teenage Millie and her Uncle John (Dìrísù) embark on a mission of revenge and retribution. But as they get closer to the people responsible, Millie must decide if she is ready to follow the bloody path of vengeance and its violent, premature journey into adulthood.
Principal photography is set for 2022 in the U.K. and WestEnd Films will introduce the projects to buyers at the virtual AFM (Nov. 1-5).
FESTIVAL
Emir Kusturica will preside over the jury of the upcoming Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF), which is on track to take place as an in-person event Nov. 26 through Dec. 5.
The Serbian helmer is a two-time Cannes Palm d’Or winner and has also presided over the Cannes jury, among other occasions he has been recruited for jury duty.
Cairo is the grande dame of the Arab world’s cinema shindigs and the only festival in the Middle East and North Africa region to be accorded category “A” status by the International Federation of Film Producers Associations in Paris (FIAPF). The fest has been subjected to some disruption caused by Saudi Arabia’s deep-pocketed Red Sea Festival that in May decided to move the dates for its inaugural edition in Jeddah to Dec. 6-15, three weeks later than its previously announced slot, forcing Cairo to reposition itself right before the inaugural Red Sea extravaganza. – Nick Vivarelli
DISTRIBUTION
London-based independent content distributor Scorpion TV has secured global rights including theatrical, TV and VOD, outside of the U.S. and Canada, for feature documentary “Meeting the Beatles in India.”
The film is directed and produced by Paul Saltzman, executive produced by David Lynch and narrated by Morgan Freeman.
In 1968, the then 23-year-old Saltzman spent a week with the Beatles at Maharishi Mahesh Yogi’s ashram. With the help of never-before-seen personal photos and film footage the film retraces Saltzman’s life-changing journey, which started with a broken heart and ended with learning transcendental meditation and spending personal time with John, Paul, George and Ringo at a remote retreat in northern India. It was during this time that much of the Beatles seminal “White Album” was conceived.
Some 50 years later, Saltzman’s daughter Devyani reminds him that he has a stash of intimate photographs of his days with the world’s greatest band and the idea for the film India was born. Saltzman tracks down Richard Cooke III —- the tiger-hunting inspiration for “The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill” song —- in Hawaii and talks to David Lynch about his own inner journey and the link between transcendental meditation and creativity. The film also includes interviews with Beatles historian Mark Lewisohn and Oscar nominated film composer Laurence Rosenthal.
DOCUSERIES
Noah Media Group‘s three-part soccer docuseries, “South of the River” will be broadcast on BT Sport across the U.K. from Nov. 23. Created by Noah Media Group’s Gabriel Clarke (“Finding Jack Charlton”) and directed by Jay Gill (“Out of Their Skin”, with former Manchester United and England star Rio Ferdinand serving as an executive producer, the series tells the stories of some of English and international football’s most high-profile young players.
The talent pool emerging from a densely populated strip of South London over the years includes Jadon Sancho (Manchester United and England), Joe Gomez (Liverpool and England), Tammy Abraham (Roma and England), Aaron Wan Bissaka (Manchester Utd), Declan Rice (West Ham and England), Ademola Lookman (RB Leipzig), Ryan Sessegnon (Tottenham), Michail Antonio (West Ham), Eberechi Eze (Crystal Palace) and many more.
The series will explore the stories of these young stars who, in the last three years, have emerged from statistically underprivileged postcodes of South London to the bright lights of multi-billion-pound UEFA club competitions.
STREAMING
Programs on BBC streamer iPlayer were streamed 1.5 billion times between July and September, latest data reveals. The numbers are up 20% on the same period last year, and up 49% on the same period in 2019, making it iPlayer’s best quarter on record.
The opening episode of submarine thriller “Vigil” was the most-streamed program, with 6.8 million streams during the quarter and 7.7 million streams to date and the UEFA Men’s Euro 2020 soccer final between England and Italy was the second most popular program of the quarter, streamed more than 6 million times. In third spot was documentary “9/11: Inside the President’s War Room” with 2.8 million streams.
The Tokyo 2020 Olympics was the most watched program overall across the quarter, streamed over 90 million times, while long-running soap “EastEnders” was streamed 74 million times across the three months.
TRAINING
U.K. screen agency Screen Yorkshire has relaunched its Beyond Brontës training program, with funding from the Mayor of West Yorkshire’s creative new deal. The initiative launched in 2019, with the aim of breaking down barriers and opening doors to film and TV jobs for young people from under-represented groups in the screen industries. Beyond Brontës, a free and part-time training package, provided career opportunities for trainees, with almost three-quarters finding work in the creative industries as a direct result of the scheme.
Previous Beyond Brontës trainees have gone on to work on “Mission Impossible 7,” “Bridgerton,” “Alma’s Not Normal,” “The Witcher” and “Gentleman Jack” among others.
The Mayor of West Yorkshire pledged support to extend the program after funding came to an end this year and has relaunched it as Beyond Brontës: The Mayor’s Screen Diversity Program. The deadline for applications is Nov. 26, with the part-time program running from Jan. 3- May 22, 2022. Applications are open to young people aged 18 – 30 years old, living in West Yorkshire.
