Double exposure for Warp X films at Cannes and Edinburgh (14/05/2008)
Sheffield based low budget digital film studio Warp X is gearing up for a summer of action as the first feature films to emerge from the slate line up to screen at two of the world's highest profile film festivals. The team will be out at Cannes next week, where they will present a panel discussion on how they are bringing new British films and filmmakers into the marketplace; Warp X: The Slate We're In will take place at the UK Film Centre on Monday 19 May.
Chris Waitt's comic documentary A Complete History Of My Sexual Failures, Olly Blackburn's hedonism-gone-wrong thriller Donkey Punch and Mark Tonderai's suspense thriller Hush will all screen in the market during the festival, which runs from 14-25 May.
A Complete History Of My Sexual Failures and Donkey Punch have also both been selected as part of this year's official programme for The Edinburgh International Film Festival, which runs from June 18-29. It is hoped that the films be received with the same enthusiasm as they were at Sundance in the US, where they played to sell out audiences and received rave reviews from the critics earlier this year.
Sheffield based Warp X, funded by Screen Yorkshire in partnership with, Film4, The UK Film Council, EM Media and Optimum Releasing, has four films due for release this year: A Complete History of My Sexual Failures, Donkey Punch, Hush and All Tomorrow's Parties. More about Warp X
The UK Film Centre at Cannes is run by The UK Film Council in partnership with the regional screen agencies, including Screen Yorkshire. Find out more here
The Edinburgh International Film Festival: www.edfilmfest.org.uk
Reviews:
Donkey Punch
"stylish, deftly scripted, and superbly acted by its sexy ensemble cast" making the feature "just the Love Boat that earnest Sundance needed, and an auspicious feature debut for Olly Blackburn". Screen International
Peter Howell of the Toronto Star says of Director Olly Blackburn.......''He knows how to build suspense and then maintain it, without resorting to gratuitous gore. Fans of horror and thriller films should put Donkey Punch on their must-see list for 2008."
''...this neat British horror-thriller stood head and shoulders above almost all of the fare on offer in Park City this year. Screening in the Sundance Film Festival's Midnight section, Donkey's Punch is a notable achievement in all departments, handled superbly by its first-time director and largely unknown cast, with a tight, frighteningly plausible script that carries the film through some of its more far-fetched moments." Damon Wise for Empire and Times Online
A Complete History of My Sexual Failures
"A Complete History of My Sexual Failures is what Sundance needs, a film of sheer audacity and originality as this is. Hilarious, pathetic, uncomfortable and consistently entertaining... Waitt's film is rich is unforgettable moments of comedy and ultimate moments of raw humanity. It's a fabulous film ..." Paul Fischer for www.darkhorizons.com
"It's hysterical and heartbreaking, sickening and sad" - Dallas Observer
