Two Irish co-productions, Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Lobster and Liv Ullmann’s Miss Julie, are among the European Film Academy selection for 2015. The list consists of 52 films recommended to the EFA Members for a nomination for the European Film Awards.
Lanthimos’s critically acclaimed Irish co-production The Lobster is a love story set in the near future where single people, according to the rules of The City, are arrested and transferred to The Hotel. There they are obliged to find a matching mate in 45 days. If they fail, they are transformed into an animal of their choosing and released into The Woods. A desperate Man escapes from The Hotel to The Woods where The Loners live and falls in love, although it is against their rules.
The film is the English language debut of Greek director Lanthimos, and stars Colin Farrell and Rachel Weisz with a supporting cast including Léa Seydoux, Ben Whishaw, John C.Reilly, Olivia Colman and Ashley Jensen. The Lobster is written by Yorgos Lanthimos and Efthimis Filippou and produced by Ed Guiney, Lee Magiday, Ceci Dempsey and Yorgos Lanthimos. Executive Producers are Andrew Lowe, Tessa Ross and Sam Lavender with Isabel Davis as the lead executive for the BFI Film Fund. The film was developed by Element and Irish finance for the film came from the Irish Film Board with Rory Gilmartin as the lead executive for the IFB.
Miss Julie is an adaptation of the play of the same title by August Strindberg, with the film transposed to 1890’s Fermanagh. It sees the daughter of a Count attempts to seduce her father’s valet.
The film, which was shot in Castle Coole in County Fermanagh, stars Jessica Chastain and Colin Farrell as the central pair, with support from Samantha Morton. The film was co-produced by Dublin based Subotica. It is currently on release in Irish cinemas.
The 2014 European Film Awards, held in Riga, saw Element Pictures producer Ed Guiney presented with the European Co-Production Award. On December 12th the 28th European Film Awards will be held in Berlin, seat of the European Film Academy and European Capital of Culture 2015.