Film4 and Senna director in Cannes line-up

Four Film4-backed films - Todd Haynes' Carol, Yorgos Lanthimos' The Lobster, Paolo Sorrentino's Youth and Justin Kurzel's Macbeth - have been invited into the official selection at this year's Cannes film festival. None of these, however, is classified as a UK production.

UK director Asif Kapadia's documentary on Amy Winehouse, entitled Amy, will get a Midnight Screening slot at the festival. The director won a BAFTA with his film Senna - which is the UK's highest grossing documentary up to date - and previously attended Cannes with his short The Sheep Thief in 1997.

So far Amy appears to be the only classified UK film screening in the south of France this year. However, more films are to be announced and it is widely thought that Ben Wheatley's latest feature High-Rise, starring Tom Hiddleston, is still in the running to be included.

Though no UK directors have as of yet made it into the main sections of Cannes 2015, UK talent will be rife on the red carpet. Michael Fassbender takes the lead in Justin Kursel's Macbeth, which partially filmed in the Scottish Isle of Skye last year. Paddy Considine, David Thewlis and Sean Harris are also part of this film, which is a dramatic depiction of Shakespeare's most famous character and the times he lived in.

Another UK actor heavy film is Yorgos Lanthimos' The Lobster. The Dogtooth director has cast Colin Farrell, Rachel Weisz, Ben Whishaw and Olivia Colman in his latest project. The Lobster is a love story set in the near future where being single is a crime and those who are alone are arrested and transferred to a central hotel to find a match. If they fail to find a partner within 45 days they are transformed into an animal and set free in the woods.

Italian director Paola Sorrentino, who in 2013 excelled at Cannes with The Great Beauty, also saw a future collaborating with British talent. Widely considered the follow-up to La Grande Bellezza (the film's original title), the filmmaker cast Rachel Weisz and Michael Caine in his new dream-like drama about the passing of youth.

The three films are part financed by Film4, as is Carol, the glossy adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's novel The Price of Salt, directed by Todd Haynes and starring Rooney Mara and Blue Jasmine actress Cate Blanchett.

All four features will have their world premiere at the festival. 

 



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