Three World Premieres:
The Railway Man, Starred Up, Sunshine On Leith
One North American Premiere: Under The Skin
SCOTLAND is set for a bumper year at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), 2013 as four Scottish films receive premieres within the first few days.
Widely recognised as the most important film festival after Cannes, the 38th annual Toronto International Film Festival takes place from 5 -15 September.
Scottish director David Mackenzie’s Starred Up, Jonathan Teplitzky’s The Railway Man which filmed key scenes on location in Scotland and Dexter Fletcher’s Sunshine on Leith which filmed in Glasgow and Edinburgh will all have World premieres.
Meanwhile, Jonathan Glazer’s hotly-anticipated Under the Skin, which filmed entirely on location in Scotland and stars BAFTA winner Scarlett Johansson, is set to receive its North American premiere, immediately following its World premiere at the Venice Film Festival.
TIFF draws attention to and raises the profile of films with the aim of contributing towards the development of cinema, boosting the film industry worldwide and celebrating cinema at an international level. In 2012, 372 films from 72 countries were screened in Toronto venues, welcoming an estimated 400,000 attendees, over 4,000 of whom were industry professionals.
Jonathan Glazer’s Under the Skin starring Scarlett Johannson as a voracious alien seductress who scours remote highways and backroads for human prey, shot entirely on location in Scotland for eight weeks during 2011. Key locations included a forest in Argyll, the private Black Mount Estate, Auchmithie beach and Tantallon Castle.
In April 2012 Colin Firth, Nicole Kidman, Jeremy Irvine and Stellan Skarsgard arrived for the filming of Jonathan Teplitzky’s The Railway Man – the true story of Eric Lomax, a British soldier in World War II who endured gruelling conditions as a forced labourer on the Thailand ‘death railway’ after being captured by Japanese troops. The production spent four weeks filming in Scotland in a variety of locations including Bo’ness & Kinneil Railway Station, Perth Train Station, Berwick-upon-Tweed, the principal house on the beach at North Berwick and St Monans Church on the Fife coast.
Dexter Fletcher’s Sunshine on Leith shot for six weeks in late 2012 in Edinburgh and Glasgow. The Kelvingrove Museum, Glasgow, the Scottish National Galleries in Edinburgh and the Shore in Leith feature prominently in the film. Starring Peter Mullan, Jane Horrocks and George McKay, Sunshine on Leith is based on the sensational stage hit of the same name, featuring music by pop-folk band The Proclaimers. The film follows the stories of Davy and Ally, who have to re-learn how to live life in Edinburgh after coming home from serving in Afghanistan.
Scottish director, David Mackenzie’s latest feature, Starred Up, is produced by Glasgow based Sigma Films and was filmed in Belfast. The prison drama stars Jack O’Connell, Rupert Friend and Ben Mendelsohn and tells the story of a troubled and explosively violent teenager who is transferred to adult prison where he finally meets his match – a man who also happens to be his father.
Caroline Parkinson, creative director, Creative Scotland commented: “Congratulations to all those involved in the four films that are premiering at TIFF this year. TIFF offers Scotland’s filmmakers a recognised international platform for their work. The profile that can be achieved leads to new opportunities for them and all the talent involved.
“Film is an international business and TIFF is an excellent event to maintain existing relationships, initiate new ones and spark off new projects and ideas.
“The Film in Scotland team will be working hard to promote Scotland’s world-class talent, film locations, facilities and services and encouraging the international film industry to come and film in Scotland.”
Creative Scotland’s Locations team will be attending TIFF between 6-11 September and will be based within the UK FILM Centre at the Hyatt Regency Hotel. For those wishing to understand more about filmmaking in Scotland, the stand offers the opportunity to speak face to face with Scottish film industry specialists able to help with enquiries about co-production opportunities, funding, locations crew and facilities. The team offer free and confidential assistance to any production seeking to film on location in Scotland including images, information and local crew contacts. For a slot, please contact locations@creativescotland.com. For more info www.creativescotlandlocations.com
Scotland attracts between £20-25 million of location spend each year from production companies shooting on location all over the country. More than 80 production companies and 300 facilities companies are based in Scotland and an average of 22 feature films have been shot in whole or in part per year, in Scotland over the last decade.
ENDS
Notes to Editors:
1. The 38th annual Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) takes place from 5 – 15 September, 2013.
The Festival draws attention to and raises the profile of films with the aim of contributing towards the development of cinema, boosting the film industry worldwide and celebrating cinema at an international level.
TIFF offers screenings, lectures, discussions, festivals, workshops, industry support and the chance to meet filmmakers from Canada and around the world.
In 2012, 372 films from 72 countries were screened at 34 screens in Toronto venues, welcoming an estimated 400,000 attendees, over 4,000 of whom were industry professionals. http://tiff.net/
2. Scottish films premiering in Toronto:
STARRED UP – World Premiere
Monday 9 September 21:00
(Special presentations category)
http://tiff.net/filmsandschedules/festival/2013/starredup
Director: David Mackenzie
Producer: Gillian Berrie
Cast: Jack O’Connell, Rupert Friend, Ben Mendelsohn
Film4, Sigma Films, Lipsync Productions, Quickfire Films, Northern Ireland Screen
Creative Scotland investment: £300,000
Synopsis:
A troubled and explosively violent teenager is transferred to adult prison where he finally meets his match – a man who also happens to be his father.
Twitter: #StarredUp @SigmaFilms @davidhmackenzie
SUNSHINE ON LEITH – World Premiere
Monday 9 September 18:00
(Special presentations category)
http://tiff.net/filmsandschedules/festival/2013/sunshineonleith
Director: Dexter Fletcher
Producer: Andrew Macdonald
Cast: Peter Mullan, Jane Horrocks, Freya Mavor, George MacKay, Antonia Thomas
DNA Films, Black Camel Productions
Creative Scotland investment: £300,000
Synopsis:
Sunshine on Leith is based on the sensational stage hit of the same name, featuring music by pop-folk band The Proclaimers. The film follows the stories of Davy and Ally, who have to re-learn how to live life in Edinburgh after coming home from serving in Afghanistan.
Both struggle to learn to live a life outside the army and to deal with the everyday struggles of family, jobs and relationships.
Twitter: #sunshineonleith @Dexfletch
THE RAILWAY MAN – World Premiere
Friday 6 September, 18:30
(Gala presentations category)
http://tiff.net/filmsandschedules/festival/2013/railwayman
Director: Jonathan Teplizky
Producer: Andy Paterson
Cast: Colin Firth, Nicole Kidman, Jeremy Irvine, Stellan Skarsgard, Hiroyuki Sanada
Archer Street Productions, Latitude Media, Lionsgate, Pictures in Paradise, Silver Reel (in association with), Thai Occidental Productions
Creative Scotland investment: £300,000
Synopsis:
Academy Award winners Colin Firth and Nicole Kidman star in the true story of Eric Lomax, a British soldier in World War II who endured gruelling conditions as a forced labourer on the Thailand ‘death railway’ after being captured by Japanese troops.
Twitter: #TheRailwayMan
UNDER THE SKIN – North American Premiere
Monday 9 September 22:00
(Special presentations category)
http://tiff.net/filmsandschedules/festival/2013/undertheskin
Director: Jonathan Glazer
Producer: Jim Wilson
Cast: Scarlett Johansson, Paul Brannigan
Film4, FilmNation Entertainment, JW Films, Nick Wechsler Productions, Silver Reel (in association with), UK Film Council
Creative Scotland investment: £300,000
Synopsis:
Scarlett Johannson stars as a voracious alien seductress who scours remote highways and backroads for human prey, in this sci-fi thriller from director Jonathan Glazer (Sexy Beast, Birth)
Twitter: #UndertheSkin
3. Creative Scotland
Creative Scotland is the national development agency for the arts, screen and creative industries. We support emerging and established filmmaking talent. We provide a range of funding from development to production, to help realise films that will benefit Scotland and engage and entertain audiences at home and beyond. http://www.creativescotland.com/funding/film-and-television
Twitter: @CreativeScots
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CreativeScotland
Media contacts:
Wendy Grannon (attending TIFF)
Media relations manager, Creative Scotland
E: wendy.grannon@creativescotland.com
T: +44 (0) 1315 230 016
M: +44 (0) 7916 137 632
Helen Sim
Media relations assistant, Creative Scotland
E: helen.sim@creativescotland.com
T: +44 (0) 1315 230 019
M: +44 (0) 7801 226 605
MEDIA RELEASE posted by the Creative Scotland. You too can post media releases (aka press releases) on allmediascotland.com. For more information, email here.
Contact: Helen Sim
Email: helen.sim@creativescotland.com
Website: http://www.creativescotland.com
