Principal photography completed on The Pervert's Guide to Ideology

14 October 2011

Guide to Ideology, the new feature documentary from director Sophie Fiennes and philosopher Slavoj Zizek, continuing the collaboration begun with The Pervert's Guide to Cinema (2006). Fiennes' last film Over Your Cities Grass Will Grow was an Official Selection at Cannes 2010.

The BFI Film Fund, Film4, Channel 4 and the Irish Film Board combined to finance with new UK equity company Rooks Nest Entertainment. UK Film Council funded the development. The film is an official UK Irish co-production, between P Guide Productions and Blinder Films.

James Wilson (Attack the Block), Martin Rosenbaum (The Pervert's Guide to Cinema), Blinder's Katie Holly (One Hundred Mornings) and Sophie Fiennes produce.

Dubbed variously ‘the closest thing philosophy has to a superstar", ‘the undisputed spritz master of cinema studies" and "the world's hippest philosopher', Slavoj Zizek is a world-renowned public intellectual - author of over 50 books, published in 20 languages.

The Pervert's Guide to Cinema, which Time Out described as ‘Red Bull delivered intravenously', explored how in movies we encounter the traumas we cannot confront in reality.

Now Zizek and Fiennes show us what psychoanalysis can tell us about ideology, by using their inventive interpretation of cinema to examine the mechanisms that shape our beliefs and practices.

For Zizek ideology is not just for extremists, it is the name for the unconscious fantasies that structure our daily lives. Fiennes shoots Zizek in replica studio sets from iconic films such as The Sound of Music, Taxi Driver, The Dark Knight, Triumph of the Will and Titanic, and on location in Salzberg, Austria and in California.

Executive Producers are Shani Hinton, Katherine Butler for Film4, Tabitha Jackson for Channel 4, and Michael Sackler and Julia Godzinskaya for Rooks Nest Entertainment. Lizzie Francke supervises the production for BFI Film Fund, which Tanya Seghatchian initiated for the UK Film Council. Alan Maher brought the project into Irish Film Board. Hinton negotiated the financing for the producers.

 

Notes to editors:

About the BFI Film Fund

The Film Fund funds bold and exciting British films and brilliant filmmakers. The Pervert's Guide to Ideology was supported by the BFI's Film Fund. On 1 April 2011, the Film Fund moved from the UK Film Council to the BFI, which became the lead body for film in the UK.

Films backed by the Film Fund through the UK Film Council include Steve McQueen's Shame and Andrea Arnold's Wuthering Heights, Lynne Ramsay's We Need To Talk About Kevin, shown In Competition at Cannes this year, Phyllida Lloyd's The Iron Lady, Fernando Meirelles's 360, Ken Loach's The Angel's Share, Terence Davies's The Deep Blue Sea, James Marsh's Project Nim, Ben Wheatley's Kill List, Peter Strickland's Berberian Sound Studio, Michael Winterbottom's Trishna, and Jonathan Glazer's Under the Skin.

Recent releases include the American Academy® award-winning The King's Speech directed by Tom Hooper, Joe Cornish's Attack the Block, Richard Ayoade's Submarine, Clio Barnard's The Arbor, Nigel Cole's Made in Dagenham, Mike Leigh's Another Year, Peter Mullan's Neds and Max Giwa and Dania Pasquini's Streetdance 3D.

The Film Fund has worked with a number of filmmakers whose films have been selected for the major international festivals this autumn including Steve McQueen's Shame and Andrea Arnold's Wuthering Heights which have just won awards at the Venice Film Festival and Terence Davies' The Deep Blue Sea, which screened recently at San Sebastian. These films were also at Toronto alongside Lynne Ramsay's We Need To Talk About Kevin, Michael Winterbottom's Trishna, Fernando Meirelles's 360 written by Peter Morgan, Pawel Pawlikowski's Woman In The Fifth, Mark Cousins's The Story of Film and the David Cronenberg co-production A Dangerous Method. In addition, 360 and The Deep Blue Sea have been selected as the opening and closing gala premieres at the 55th BFI London Film Festival.

The BFI's ambition is to create a flourishing film environment in which innovation, opportunity and creativity can thrive by:

Connecting audiences to the widest choice of British and World cinema Preserving and restoring the most significant film collection in the world for today and future generations Championing emerging and world class film makers in the UK Investing in creative, distinctive and entertaining work Promoting British film and talent to the world Growing the next generation of filmmakers and audiences

 

About Film4

Film4, headed by Tessa Ross, is Channel 4 Television's feature film division. Film4 develops and co finances films and is known for working with the most innovative talent in the U.K., whether new or established. Film4 has developed and co-financed many of the most successful UK films of recent years, films like Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire and 127 Hours, Martin McDonagh's In Bruges. Steve McQueen's Hunger, Mike Leigh's Another Year, Chris Morris' Four Lions and Peter Mullan's NEDS. Film4's 2011 releases include Kevin Macdonald's The Eagle, Richard Ayoade's Submarine, Joe Cornish's directorial debut Attack The Block, Ben Palmer's The Inbetweeners Movie which took over £14.7m in its first week of release, Lone Scherfig's One Day, Ben Wheatley's Kill List and Paddy Considine's debut feature Tyrannosaur. Future releases include Miranda July's The Future, Andrea Arnold's Wuthering Heights and Terence Davies' The Deep Blue Sea. Film4's current productions include Pawel Pawlikowski's The Woman In The Fifth, Phyllida Lloyd's The Iron Lady, Steve McQueen's Shame, Walter Salles' On The Road, Peter Strickland's Berberian Sound Studio and Roger Michell's Hyde Park on Hudson.

 

About the Irish Film Board

Bord Scannán na hÉireann/the Irish Film Board (IFB) is the national development agency for the Irish film industry investing in talent, creativity and enterprise. The agency supports and promotes the Irish film industry and the use of Ireland as a location for international production. Our role sees us directly involved in the creative process of Irish films from script to screen. The agency provides investment for the development, production and release of Irish feature films, television, animation, documentaries and short films.

There is also international production and development funding available for international projects filming in Ireland and the Irish tax incentive for film and television Section 481 is worth up to 28% of eligible spend. Recent feature films include ‘The Guard', ‘Albert Nobbs', ‘Super Hero', ‘Sensation', ‘The Other Side of Sleep' and ‘Lotus Eaters'. Irish films currently in production include' Love Eternal' and ‘What Richard Did'.

 

About Rooks Nest Entertainment

Rookes Nest Entertainment is a London based production company and financier.