Film4's On the Road, Sightseers and The Curse selected for Cannes 2012

24 April 2012

On the Road

 

Film4 is delighted that two of its forthcoming features - Walter Salles' On the Road and Ben Wheatley's Sightseers - and one of its shorts, Fyzal Boulifa's The Curse, will have their world premieres at this year's Cannes Film Festival.

Walter Salles' long-awaited adaptation of Jack Kerouac's novel has been selected to screen in Competition, whilst Sightseers, Wheatley's follow-up to 2011's acclaimed Kill List, is showing as part of Director's Fortnight, as is Boulifa's short The Curse.  

Both On the Road and Sightseers are road movies, but their settings couldn't be more different.  On the Road, starring Garrett Hedlund, Kristen Stewart and Sam Riley, follows two friends, aspiring writer Sal Paradise and dangerously seductive ex-con Dean Moriarty, as they embark on a US road-trip and discover the world, others and themselves.

Sightseers is director Ben Wheatley's original dark comedy about a newly established couple, Chris and Tina, played by co-writers Steve Oram and Alice Lowe, who go on a caravan holiday in England - but events soon conspire against them, and their dream trip takes a very wrong turn. 

The Curse, co-financed by Film4 and BFI, is a stark fairytale unfolding in the desolate Moroccan countryside. When Fatine's secret is discovered by a group of local kids who threaten to tell the whole village, she must go to increasingly absurd lengths to stop them.

Tessa Ross, Head of Film4, says: "We're really thrilled for Walter, Ben and Fyzal.  On the Road, Sightseers and The Curse represent the incredibly broad range of wonderful talent and stories that Film4 works with - we're so proud of the films and congratulate the teams and our partners on all three."

Cannes Film Festival takes place from 16th - 27th May 2012.  On the Road and Sightseers are due to be released in UK cinemas this autumn.

 

Editor's Notes

On the Road

MK2 and American Zoetrope present a Jerry Leider Company production in association with Vanguard Films, Film4, in co-production with France 2 Cinema with the participation of France Televisions CANAL+ and CINE+

Directed by Walter Salles

Written by Jose Rivera, based on the novel On the Road by Jack Kerouac

Producers: Nathanaël Karmitz, Charles Gillibert, Rebecca Yeldham, Roman Coppola

Cast: Garrett Hedlund, Sam Riley, Kristen Stewart, Amy Adams, Tom Sturridge, Elisabeth Moss, Alice Braga, Terrence Howard, Kirsten Dunst, Viggo Mortensen, and Steve Buscemi. 

 

Sightseers

STUDIOCANAL, Film4 and BFI present a Big Talk Production in association with Rook Films.

Directed by Ben Wheatley

Written by Alice Lowe, Steve Oram with additional material by Amy Jump

Producers: Nira Park, Claire Jones, Andy Starke

Cast: Alice Lowe, Steve Oram 

 

The Curse

Co-financed by Film4 and BFI

Directed by Fyzal Boulifa

Written by Fyzal Boulifa

Produced by: Gavin Humphries, Quark Films and Karim Debbagh, Kasbah Films

Cast: Ibtissam Zabara