10/10/2005

As part of its general strategy to increase its collaboration with European co-production partners, the Swedish regional film fund Film i Väst is co-financing two English-language films that will start filming this month.

Straightheads is the directorial debut of established documentary UK filmmaker Dan Reed with Gillian Anderson in the lead role. It’s the story of a middle-class couple who embark on a violent spree after surviving a gang attack. The film produced by Kevin Loader (Enduring Love) and Damian Jones (Millions) is a UK/Swedish co-production between Straightheads Ltd and Sonet Film. Extra financing has also been provided by Film Four, the UK Film Council and UK distributor Verve Pictures.

The Front Line is the new feature film by Irish writer/director David Gleeson whose directorial debut was the acclaimed Cowboys And Angels (2003). This second feature film also written by Gleeson centres around a Congolese immigrant bank security guard who turns the tables on Dublin’s criminal underworld when they force him to take part in a robbery at the bank. The director spent some time in the war-torn eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo researching the film.
As for Gleeson’s directorial debut, The Front Line is produced by Nathalie Lichtenthaeler -life and work partner to Gleeson- for her Irish-based company Wide Eye Films. The film is co-produced with Sweden (Sandrew Metronome) and Germany (Philipp Homberg Filmproduktion) with support from the Irish Film Board and Hamburg Film Fund.