Principal photography has wrapped on THE SELFISH GIANT, the second feature from writer/director Clio Barnard (The Arbor). Inspired by Oscar Wilde’s story of the same name, THE SELFISH GIANT is a contemporary fable about two teenage boys who get caught up in the world of copper theft.
THE SELFISH GIANT stars Sean Gilder (The Fall, ‘Shameless’), Siobhan Finneran (Rita, Sue and Bob Too, ‘Downton Abbey’), Lorraine Ashbourne (Oranges and Sunshine), Steve Evets (Looking for Eric), Elliott Tittensor (Spike Island, ‘Shameless’) and talented newcomers Conner Chapman and Shaun Thomas in their debut acting roles. The film is produced by Tracy O’Riordan (The Arbor, Desh).
THE SELFISH GIANT is backed by the BFI Film Fund and Film4, and was developed with support from both Film4 and the BFI. International sales are being handled by Protagonist Pictures. Shooting took place in Bradford for 6 weeks.
THE SELFISH GIANT is a contemporary fable about 14 year old Arbor (Conner Chapman) and his best friend Swifty (Shaun Thomas). Excluded from school and outsiders in their own community, the boys meet Kitten (Sean Gilder), a local scrapman, and begin collecting scrap metal for him using a horse and cart. Swifty has a natural gift with horses and Arbor has a business brain and a way with words – they make a good team. But when Arbor begins to emulate Kitten by becoming greedy and exploitative, tensions build, leading to a tragic event which transforms them all irrevocably.
THE SELFISH GIANT is writer/director Clio Barnard’s second film, following on from The Arbor, her feature length documentary film about Bradford playwright Andrea Dunbar. The Arbor received huge critical success on its release in 2010 and numerous awards including The Douglas Hickox Award at the British Independent Film Awards (BIFAs), Best Screenplay at the Evening Standard British Film Awards, Best British Newcomer at the BFI London Film Festival, Best New Documentary Filmmaker at Tribeca and The Grierson Award for Best Cinema Documentary.
Barnard based her adaptation of ‘The Selfish Giant’ on stories she was told and people that she met whilst making The Arbor. She got to know a group of boys between the ages of 10 and 16 who used horses and carts to collect scrap metal, and in particular one boy who was the basis of the character of Arbor in the film. Barnard describes her second feature film as “a re-telling of a fairy tale based on fact”.
BFI Film Fund
The BFI Film Fund champions creative excellence and boldness of vision, supporting filmmakers at every step of their journey to create distinctive and entertaining films.
Working with writers, directors and producers, from first time filmmakers to established, world class talent; BFI Film Fund invests Lottery funding in the development, production and completion of short and long form projects.
Films supported by BFI Film Fund include Phyllida Lloyd's Academy Award® winning The Iron Lady; James Watkins’ box office hit The Woman in Black; Steve McQueen's BAFTA nominated Shame; Lynne Ramsay's We Need To Talk About Kevin; Carol Morley’s Dreams of a Life; Andrea Arnold's Wuthering Heights; and Paddy Considine’s BAFTA award-winning Tyrannosaur.
Recent productions include: Ken Loach’s The Angels’ Share (which screened In Competition at Cannes 2012 and won the 2012 Jury Prize), Amma Asante’s Belle, Rufus Norris’Broken (which opened Critics’ Week at Cannes 2012), Neil Jordan’s Byzantium, John Michael McDonagh’s Calvary, James Griffiths’ Cuban Fury, Richard Ayoade’s The Double, Sally Potter’s Ginger and Rosa, Destiny Ekaragha’s Gone Too Far, Mike Newell’s Great Expectations, Kevin Macdonald’s How I Live Now, Ralph Fiennes’ The Invisible Woman, Ruairi Robinson’s The Last Days on Mars, Roger Michell’s Le Weekend, Sophie Fiennes’ The Pervert’s Guide To Ideology, Stephen Frears’ Philomena, Martin McDonagh’s Seven Psychopaths, Scott Graham’s Shell, Ben Wheatley’s Sightseers (which screened in the Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes 2012), Mat Whitecross’ Spike Island, Ken Loach’s Spirit of ’45, Jonathan Glazer’s Under the Skin and Eran Creevy’s Welcome To The Punch.
BFI
The BFI is the lead organisation for film in the UK with the ambition 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
• Investing in creative, distinctive and entertaining work
• Promoting British film and talent to the world
• Growing the next generation of film makers and audiences
For more information visit the BFI
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 UK, 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 and Shame, Mike Leigh’s Another Year, Chris Morris’ Four Lions , Richard Ayoade’s Submarine, Joe Cornish’s directorial debut Attack The Block, Lone Scherfig’s One Day, Ben Wheatley’s Kill List, Paddy Considine’s Tyrannosaur and Ben Palmer’s The Inbetweeners Movie.
Recent releases include Andrea Arnold’s Wuthering Heights, Terence Davies’ The Deep Blue Sea, Carol Morley’s Dreams of a Life, Phyllida Lloyd’s The Iron Lady, Pawel Pawlikowski’s The Woman In The Fifth, Bart Layton’s The Imposter, Peter Strickland’s Berberian Sound Studio and Walter Salles’ On the Road.
Forthcoming releases include Sophie Fiennes’ The Pervert’s Guide to Ideology, Roger Michell’s Hyde Park on Hudson, Ben Wheatley’s Sightseers, Martin McDonagh’s Seven Psychopaths, Jonathan Glazer’s Under the Skin, Shane Meadows’ The Stone Roses, Kevin Macdonald’s How I Live Now, James Griffiths’ Cuban Fury, Richard Ayoade’s The Double, Danny Boyle’s Trance and Michael Winterbottom’s Untitled Paul Raymond Story (working title).
For further information visit Film4
