Film Agency News
15th July 2008
ON THE ROAD FROM THE EDGE OF LOVE TO PATAGONIA: Matthew Rhys announces latest feature film
The Film Agency for Wales has announced that Matthew Rhys is set to star alongside Nia Roberts, (co-lead in the foreign language Oscar nominated Solomon and Gaenor), in the latest feature film, Patagonia, by Welsh producer Rebekah Gilbertson and director Marc Evans.
The announcement comes following the release of Gilbertson’s debut feature The Edge of Love.
Chosen to open the 2008 Edinburgh Film Festival, The Edge of Love tells the story of the legendary poet Dylan Thomas. Matthew Rhys stars as the young Dylan Thomas alongside Keira Knightley, Cillian Murphy and Sienna Miller. Written by Sharman Macdonald, it is directed by John Maybury, previous winner of the Edinburgh Film Festival Best New Feature for Love is the Devil; Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon.
Patagonia, a road movie, will be produced by Gilbertson alongside veteran producer Oscar Kramer and directed by Evans to a script written by Laurence Coriat (Wonderland, Me Without You and A Mighty Heart), with cinematography by Robbie Ryan (Red Road, Brick Lane).
A dual-language co-production in Welsh and Spanish, the action in Patagonia alternates between a thirty-something Welsh couple who travel to Argentina to reassess their relationship amid the Welsh settlements of Patagonia and an elderly woman venturing in the opposite direction, accompanied by a young, reluctant travelling companion.
With all Welsh funding, support comes from the Film Agency for Wales, Boom Films, S4C and K&S -Kramer & Sigman Films - Argentina. Patagonia presents an opportunity for a Welsh creative team to explore their shared cultural interests.
“This project includes a compelling combination of seasoned and respected Welsh director Marc Evans and emerging producer Rebekah Gilbertson hot from the commercial success of her first debut feature Edge of Love,” says Peter Edwards, Chairman of the Film Agency for Wales.
“This culturally significant Welsh film explores the notions of leaving and longing, as evoked through the parallel journeys in opposite directions to and from Patagonia. The dual-language nature provides real potential to place a cultural spotlight on Wales, particularly given the significant talent associated with the project.”
“To capitalise on the beauty and contrasts of the landscapes of Patagonia and Wales, we intend to shoot the Argentine sections in their summertime, when the land is defined by its aridity, heat and emptiness, followed by the Welsh scenes in wet and windy winter,” explains Gilbertson.
“This film gets us away from the tyranny of the Anglo-American system and allows us to play on the margins. It is so hard to make foreign language films in the present climate of distribution and exhibition. To put the language of Welsh next to the huge global language of Spanish is to find another way of working and to explore another map in terms of audience and markets. That is what is so exciting about this project,” comments Evans.
Kramer adds, “Culturally, this project means a challenging and rewarding exchange bringing together crew and cast from both countries, to produce and shoot in assorted locations of clear interest for both parties.”
Patagonia is being co-produced by Cardiff company Boomerang as part of their Boom Films initiative set up with S4C. “This is exactly the kind of co-production, essentially low-budget but with a big cinematic ambition, that we have been trying to set up with S4C over the last year or so” says Huw Eurig Davies of Boomerang “Hopefully it will be the first of many such projects and will provide a template for the future. We are already taking to Rebekah Gilbertson about how we might put further such films into action.”
S4C’s Director of Commissioning, Rhian Gibson, said, “This is a great opportunity for S4C and the other partners to bring together a group of talented individuals who can meet our ambitions as commissioner and enabler of high quality content. We are particularly excited about the bilingual nature of the production. The movement of people between Wales and Patagonia has grown considerably in recent years, reflecting the interest in both countries in their common roots.”
Robbie Little of The Little Film Company will be handling all sales. It will be filmed in early 2009 in Argentina followed by a spring shoot in Wales
The Film Agency for Wales is funded by the Arts Council of Wales, the UK Film Council and the Welsh Assembly Government, via Creative Business Wales, the latter of which was set up to support, encourage and increase the range and number of films being produced in Wales and to foster the abundance of creative talent in Wales.
For further information please contact Lisa Jenkins on 0790 873 8763 or use our contact form.
Quarterly archive
2007
2006
