Cannes Competition titles Sentimental Value, the sixth film from Danish-Norwegian director Joachim Trier, and The History Of Sound, also the sixt
Cannes Competition titles Sentimental Value, the sixth film from Danish-Norwegian director Joachim Trier, and The History Of Sound, also the sixth film by the acclaimed South African director Oliver Hermanus, have both secured funding from the UK public broadcasters, BBC Film and Film4 respectively.
The financial support from the UK public broadcasters has raised the eyebrows of some in the UK independent production community as neither film is directed by a UK filmmaker, has a UK producer or co-producer, tells a UK story or was majority shot in the UK with a majority UK cast and crew.
As UK funding for independent film is narrow – BBC Film has a pot of around £11m a year; Film4 invests some £22.5m –Screen asked BBC Film and FIlm4 to talk about the strategy behind their decisions to back the two films. Eva Yates, director of BBC Film, and Ollie Madden, director of Film4, both declined to directly comment, but spokespersons from the two funders provided some insights into why the two films have been supported by the UK public broadcasters.
Sentimental Value is a drama about a family living in Oslo, produced by Norway’s Maria Ekerhovd at Mer Film in co-production with Andrea Ottmar of Norway’s Eye Eye Productions, along with Zentropa (Denmark and Sweden), Komplizen Film (Germany), and Lumen and MK Productions (France). Its international cast includes Renate Reinsve, Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, Elle Fanning and Stellan Skarsgård, with France’s mk2 Films selling. Further funders include the Norwegian Film Institute.
BBC Film boarded Sentimental Value in 2023, via the producers and the sales agent, both of which BBC Film had worked previously. The quality of the script drew BBC Film to the project, said the spokesperson, with the broadcaster keen to guarantee the UK free-TV rights for the BBC channels and iPlayer, which is part of its remit as an end user.
“Joachim Trier is one of the world’s most acclaimed filmmakers,” said the BBC Film spokesperson. “Sentimental Value speaks with emotional clarity around universal themes of family and the value of art, themes we felt would resonate with the BBC’s audiences and our imperative as a cultural organisation.”
It is not the first time BBC Film has backed films without UK producers or UK directors: two recent examples are Eliza Hittman’s Sundance 2020 premiere Never Rarely Sometimes Always and Annie Baker’s 2023 Telluride title Janet Planet, both from US filmmakers and producers.
BBC Film is keen to underline that supporting UK talent is still front and centre of its strategy and that in the last two years the funder has supported 29 films in production of which 18 are debuts and three are second-or third-time features, all UK produced or co-produced. The spokesperson also noted BBC Film has also supported 24 UK production companies through the BBC Small Indie Fund.
Three of its UK titles are in Un Certain Regard, all debut features: Harry Lighton’s Pillion, Akinola Davies Jr’s My Father’s Shadow and Harris Dickinson’s Urchin. All received long-term development support from BBC Film.
“We are proud of our support for UK filmmaking that has helped launch some of the most exciting filmmaking voices of recent years,” said the spokesperson. “And that we are able to foster international relationships that support culturally urgent work with strong audience appeal.”
The History Of Sound
The History Of Sound is one of a handful of films Film4 has recently backed without substantial UK involvement. Further projects include two upcoming films produced by US-based Robert Walak of international production group Iconoclast and Cyprus-headquartered Mid March Media: French filmmaker Romain Gavras’ English-language debut Sacrifice (also produced by Greece’s Heretic and Gavras), which shot in Greece and Bulgaria, and fellow French filmmaker Léo Berne’s yet-to-shoot I Am A Monster (also produced by Poland’s Madants), with filming planned for London.
Irish actor Paul Mescal and the UK’s Josh O’Connor star in The History Of Sound which is set predominantly around the First World War period in the US. It is produced by US production outfits End Cue and Fat City, alongside Thérèsa Ryan-van Graan and Hermanus, plus Zhang Xin of New York-based production and finance company Closer Media.
Further support has come from Storm City Films and Tango Entertainment, with Focus/Universal distributing internationally, and Mubi, in which Closer Media has a stake, releasing in the US.
It follows the division’s collaboration with Hermanus on the 2022 film Living, produced by the UK’s Number 9 FIlms, which Film4 developed and part-financed. Hermanus went directly to Film4 with his script for The History Of Sound, set in the US, Italy and UK, the spokesperson revealed.
“Oliver is a world-class filmmaker committed to working out of the UK and we were incredibly proud to have backed his first British production Living,” said the spokesperson. “The success of Living demonstrated his ability to connect with audiences on a global stage.”
The involvement of UK actor O’Connor and key UK crew such as editor Chris Wyatt in The History Of Sound were also a draw for the UK funder, with some of the filming taking place in the UK. Another draw was securing the UK free-TV rights for the Film4 channel and Channel 4 streaming, and the film’s commercial potential.
“Given the calibre of talent involved, The History Of Sound is one of our more commercially ambitious projects. In success, these projects help to fund films deemed riskier by the market, including those from first-time filmmakers,” said the spokesperson.
Recent UK debuts supported by Film4 include Rebecca Lenkiewicz’s Berlin premiere Hot Milk, Dylan Southern’s Sundance title The Thing With Feathers and Thea Gajić’s SXSW Surviving Earth.
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