In conversation with James Gay-Rees, the producer of SENNA

Legendary Brazilian racing driver Ayrton Senna

Working Title Films in association with Midfield Films is currently producing a documentary feature film about the legendary Brazilian racing driver Ayrton Senna. I recently caught up with the film’s producer James Gay-Rees in the editing room. Click on the link below to hear our conversation.

Spanning Senna’s years as a Formula One racing driver from 1984 to his untimely death a decade later, the film will explore the life and work of the triple world champion, his physical and spiritual achievements on the track, his quest for perfection and the mythical status he has attained since.

Produced by James Gay-Rees (Long Time Dead, Blackball), the film is written by Manish Pandey and directed by Asif Kapadia (The Warrior, Far North), Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner with Kevin Macdonald (Touching the Void, The Last King of Scotland, State of Play) and Manish Pandley serving as executive producers.

In conversation with Rebecca O’Brien @ Cannes 2009

Big Eric putting Little Eric through his paces

Rebecca O’Brien is an independent film producer with over 20 years of experience. She is in Cannes with her latest production Looking For Eric (directed by Ken Loach) which screened in the festival’s competition section earlier this week. Click on the link below to hear our conversation.

Rebecca has produced eleven feature films directed by Ken Loach including Sweet Sixteen, My Name is Joe, Land and Freedom and The Wind that Shakes the Barley, winner of the 2006 Palme d’Or at Cannes. Rebecca also produced the Working Title production Bean. She has worked on a number of documentary projects including Ian Knox’s forthcoming Pat Martino Unstrung and Ken Loach’s documentary The Flickering Flame.
She produced Princesa with Brazilian director, Henrique Goldman and is Executive Producer on his new film about Jean Charles de Menezes which is currently in post-production. Prior to being a producer Rebecca worked as a production manager and as a location manager.
Rebecca is a board member of the UK Film Council, and together with Ken Loach she runs a production company called Sixteen Films.

In conversation with Jan Chapman @ Cannes 2009

Jan Chapman is in Cannes with her latest production Bright Star (directed by Jane Campion) which screened in the festival’s competition section earlier this week. Click on the link below to hear our conversation.

Jan has produced some of Australia’s most critically successful films – including AFI Best Film winner, Lantana and Academy Award® and BAFTA Best Film nominee, The Piano.

She studied at Sydney University before becoming involved in the Sydney Filmmakers Co-Op. This led to her becoming a producer in the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s drama department where she produced Jane Campion’s first television feature Two Friends (1986). Since founding her own production company, Jan’s credits include: The Last Days of Chez Nous (1992), The Piano (1993), Love Serenade (1996), Holy Smoke (1999), Walk the Talk (2000), Lantana (2001) and Jane Campion’s new film Bright Star, due for release in 2009. She has also executive produced Somersault (2004) and Suburban Mayhem (2006) both of which were selected for Un Certain Regard at Cannes.

Her films have won many awards including co-recipient of the Palme d’or at Cannes (The Piano, 1993), 3 Academy Awards® (The Piano, 1994), Camera d’Or at Cannes (Love Serenade 1996), over 35 Australian Film Institute Awards, and have had numerous screenings and honours across the globe at the world’s top film festivals including Venice, Toronto, Berlin and Cannes.

Jan received the Nova Award from the Producer’s Guild of America for Most Promising Theatrical Motion Picture Producer in 1994. She has been honoured for her outstanding contribution to the Australian film industry as the recipient of many lifetime achievement awards including the Order of Australia in 2004.

Jane Campion’s “Bright Star”

 

John Keats (played by Ben Whishaw) and Fanny Brawne (played by Abbie Cornish) in "Bright Star"

Rapturous applause in the Grand Theatre Lumiere for the premiere of "Bright Star" directed by Jane Campion

The Cannes film festival is focused on the role of the director in the film making process, and more specifically ‘auteur’ directors whose films evidence a personal creative vision. New Zealand born director Jane Campion is one of the most respected auteur directors working in the film industry today. Campion has had a long and successful relationship with the Cannes film festival. In 1986 her film “Peel” won the Palme d’Or for best short film, in 1993 her film “The Piano” won the Palme d’Or for best feature film, and she’s back this year with “Bright Star 

Bright Star is set in London in 1818, and explores the love affair between the English poet, John Keats (played by Ben Whishaw), and the girl next door, Fanny Brawne (played by Abbie Cornish), an outspoken student of fashion. It is impossible to find fault in the individual components of this film. Abbie Cornish and Ben Whishaw deliver powerful, artful performances. Cinematographer Greg Fraser photographs the British light and landscape superbly. Janet Patterson has designed costumes that capture the period without feeling dated and the score by Marc Bradshaw succeeds in adding depth without impinging on the quiet calm of the film. Bright Star is an effortless film to watch, and subtly delivers on many levels.

Ultimately, however, Bright Star fails to harness the potential promised by its flawless components. Whishaw and Cornish deliver brilliant individual performances, but they lack the on-screen chemistry required to give the film real emotional power.

Andrea Arnold’s Fish Tank

Katie Jarvis as 'Mia' in Andrea Arnold's "Fish Tank"

Andrea Arnold strikes me as a very real person, and exactly the kind of person that deserves to be in the powerful and influential position of directing feature films. Her films explore the lives of people living in and around the estates of the United Kingdom. Bleak worlds, and bleak stories, richly told.

Fish Tank is set in the rough estates of Essex. The film takes you on an urgent and intense journey with a headstrong, but confused teenager named Mia (pictured above). I’m not going to outline the narrative of the film, even in the broadest of terms, as I fear this might dilute the film’s effect. The important point to stress, is that Fish Tank is ‘rich’ in the true sense of the word. The issues of the film are portrayed with the complexity they deserve, and the tools of the cinema (visuals / music / acting / light) are deployed to give a bleak world a sense of beauty, and significance.