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BBC Films

Alan PartridgeBBC Feature Films: Alan Partridge: The Movie 

About BBC Films

BBC Films is the feature film-making arm of the BBC. It is firmly established at the forefront of British independent film-making and co-produces approximately eight films a year.

Working in partnership with major international and UK distributors, BBC Films aims to make strong British films with range and ambition.

We are committed to finding and developing new talent, as well as collaborating with some of the foremost writers and directors in the industry.

Aims

BBC Films is looking for strong, multi-genre, original feature films with stories which will perform internationally; the intention is to produce high quality films which will attract top directing, writing and acting talent.

A selection of BBC Films' latest projects:

Out Now/Coming soon from BBC Films

Broken, Winner of the Best Film at the British Independent Film Awards, and the feature debut of theatre director Rufus Norris. The film stars Tim Roth, Cillian Murphy and newcomer Eloise Laurence in an emotional coming of age story. In selected cinemas from 8 March 2013.

Good Vibrations, Richard Dormer stars as Terri Hooley, record store owner, producer and maverick of the Belfast music scene. Jodie Whittaker, Dylan Moran and Liam Cunningham also star in this funny, charming winner of the Galway Film Fleadh’s Audience Award. In cinemas from 28 February 2013.

Spike Island from director Mat Whitecross; five friends will risk everything - including their friendship - to get to the ultimate gig by their idols, the Stone Roses. Stars Elliot Tittensor, Emilia Clarke and Nico Mirallegro.  

Alan Partridge: The Movie sees local radio DJ Alan, handle a violent turn of events in his own indomitable way.Steve Coogan stars as Alan in this film from director Declan Downey, In cinemas Summer 2013.

Blood from director Nick Murphy, is a gripping crime thriller of brothers caught up in an increasingly out of control situation,starring Paul Bettany, Stephen Graham, Mark Strong and Brian Cox.

Saving Mr Banks when Walt Disney plans to make Mary Poppins the film, he has to persuade the formidable author of the books PL Travers to let him. Tom Hanks, Emma Thompson, Colin Farrell Dominic Cooper and Paul Giamatti star. In cinemas soon

Recent theatrical releases

Quartet is from Oscar®-winning screenwriter Ronald Harwood based on his own play, and is the directorial debut from Dustin Hoffman. Maggie Smith, Tom Courtenay, Billy Connolly, Pauline Collins and Sheridan Smith star in this wickedly comic film about growing old with passion. The film will be in cinemas from 4 January 2013.

Great Expectations, Dickens’ classic tale of an act of kindness that has far-reaching consequences, has been adapted for the screen by David Nicholls and directed by Mike Newell. It has an impressive cast which includinges Ralph Fiennes, Helena Bonham-Carter, Jeremy Irvine, Robbie Coltrane, Ewen Bremner, Jason Flemyng and Holliday Grainger, In cinemas from 30 November 2012.

Now is Good has been adapted by writer/director Ol Parker from the novel ‘Before I Die’ by Jenny Downham. Tessa is a 17 year-old girl with a limited time to live. She sets herself the challenge of living her adolescence on fast forward. Just when things look hopeless, she falls in love and everything changes. Dakota Fanning, Jeremy Irvine, Paddy Considine and Olivia Williams star. The film will be in cinemas across the UK from 19 September 2012. 

360 is director Fernando Meirelles’ vivid, moving and suspenseful tale of romantic love in the 21st century, from a script from Peter Morgan. Starrings Anthony Hopkins, Jude Law, Rachel Weisz, Ben Foster and Jamel Dubbouze. In selected cinemas from 10 August 2012, 

My Week With Marilyn, directed by Simon Curtis from an adaptation of the Colin Clark book by Adrian Hodges. Features an Oscar® nominated performance from Michelle Williams. Eddie Redmayne, Kenneth Branagh, Emma Watson and Dame Judi Dench star. Recent theatrical releases

We Need to Talk About Kevin, when Kevin is 15, he does something irrational and unforgiveable in the eyes of the whole community. His mother grapples with the terrible question – nature or nurture; what made her son a monster?  Lynne Ramsay directs Tilda Swinton, John C. Reilly and Ezra Miller in her own adaptation with Rory Kinnear.  

Jane Eyre, from Charlotte Brontë’s celebrated gothic 19th Century novel adapted by Moira Buffini, Jane Eyre is the thrilling, beautifully romantic story of a plain but spirited girl’s bravery in the face of hypocrisy and cruelty. From director Cary Joji Fukunaga, the film stars Mia Wasikowska, Michael Fassbender and Dame Judi Dench.   

Perfect Sense, from acclaimed director David Mackenzie and a script from Kim Fupz-Aakeson. Ewan Macgregor and Eva Green in this lush romance set against the backdrop of a mysterious world-wide apocalypse where people are losing their senses one at a time.

The Awakening, Nick Murphy directs this chilling supernatural mystery from his own script with writer Stephen Volk. Rebecca Hall plays Florence Cathcart, a ghost debunker who finds her beliefs challenged when she is hired to disprove the existence of ghosts at a boys’ school. Dominic West and Imelda Staunton also star.

Project Nim, is the documentary feature from the Oscar®-winning team behind MAN ON WIRE. Nim was a chimpanzee who in the 1970s became the focus of a landmark experiment which aimed to show that an ape could learn to communicate with language if raised and nurtured like a human child. From director James Marsh and producer Simon Chinn.

Highlights from the Back Catalogue

West is West Ayub Khan Din’s touching and humorous sequel to the critically acclaimed East is East. Andy de Emmony directs Om Puri, Linda Bassett and Aqib Khan in a classic coming-of-age story. Sajid, the youngest of the Khan family, is struggling with the demands of his tyrannical father, ‘Ghengis Khan’.  In an attempt to ‘sort him out’ his father packs him off to Pakistan to wife No.1 who he abandoned 35 years earlier. 

Brighton Rock, Rowan Joffe’s adaptation and directorial debut of Graham Greene’s 1939 novel. Sam Riley stars as Pinkie, a razor-wielding disadvantaged teenager with a religious death wish. Andrea Riseborough plays Rose, the innocent young waitress he seduces.  The film also stars Helen Mirren, John Hurt, Nonso Anonzie, Phil Davies and Andy Serkis. 

Made in Dagenham Nigel Cole’s multi-BAFTA nominated drama; the story of the equal pay strikes by female workers at the Ford Dagenham plant in 1968. From a screenplay by William Ivory. Sally Hawkins, Bob Hoskins, Miranda Richardson, Geraldine James, Rosamund Pike and Andrea Riseborough star. 

Tamara Drewe: Gemma Arterton plays Tamara, the ultimate modern girl returning to her country home - and her past. Once a shy, ugly teenager, Tamara reinvents herself as a smouldering femme fatale, kicking up a storm of envy, lust and gossip wherever she goes. Directed by Stephen Frears, the film also stars Dominic Cooper, Roger Allam, Luke Evans, Bill Camp and Tamsin Greig.

StreetDance: a London dance crew training for the UK Street Dance Championships are forced to work with ballet dancers from the Royal Dance School in return for rehearsal space. Charlotte Rampling heads a diverse cast of new and emerging dance and acting talent including Nichola Burley, Richard Winsor, George Sampson, Diversity, and Street Dance Champions, Flawless. Directed by the award-winning promo duo Max and Dania and written by Jane English, StreetDance was the first British movie to be shot in 3-D.

An Education, a delightful romantic drama from director Lone Scherfig and writer Nick Hornby, based on an article by journalist Lynn Barber. The film stars Carey Mulligan (in a BAFTA winning debut), Peter Sarsgaard, Alfred Molina and Emma Thompson. The film has had a phenomenal run of awards success, including Academy Award® nominations for Best Picture, Screenplay and Actress following seven BAFTA nominations and an Orange Rising Star nomination for Carey Mulligan. 

Bright Star, Jane Campion's return to period romantic drama. The film stars Ben Whishaw as Keats and Abbie Cornish as his first love. Early festival successes were closely followed by a string of award nominations, including an Academy Award® nomination for Costume Design for Janet Patterson. 

Edge of Darkness, an emotionally charged thriller from director Martin Campbell, from an adaptation by William Monahan and Andrew Bovell. Set at the intersection of politics and big business, Mel Gibson plays Thomas Craven, a veteran homicide detective on a mission to uncover the mysteries behind the murder of his only daughter. 

The Men Who Stare At Goats, Grant Heslov directs George Clooney, Ewan MacGregor, Jeff Bridges and Kevin Spacey in this hit quirky comedy. From a screenplay by Peter Straughan, this story is inspired by unbelievable-but-true revelations in the best-selling, non-fiction book by Jon Ronson.

Nativity!: Debbie Isitt's smash hit comedy, starring Martin Freeman as school teacher Paul Maddens who is charged with the biggest challenge of his life: mounting the school's musical version of the Nativity. Ashley Jensen, Jason Watkins and Marc Wootton also star.

In the Loop: a contemporary comedy from satirist Armando Iannucci, a bold and cutting look at international politics from inside the 'special relationship'. The film has received many international awards and nominations, including an Academy Award® nomination for Best Screenplay.

The Damned United: Brian Clough's fateful 44 day reign at Leeds United. Clough is portrayed by Michael Sheen, directed by Tom Hooper from a Peter Morgan adaptation.

Is Anybody There? John Crowley directs Michael Caine and Anne-Marie Duff, David Morrissey and Bill Milner in this charming tale of an unusual friendship between a retired magician and a child obsessed with the afterlife.

Revolutionary Road: based on the celebrated novel by Richard Yates, Sam Mendes' film features Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet (in a Golden Globe winning performance), as frustrated suburbanites in a story of thwarted passion and the search for fulfilment.

The Duchess: Keira Knightley and Ralph Fiennes star in this adaption from the biography by Amanda Foreman of the turbulent life of Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire. Features Academy Award® and BAFTA winning costume design by Michael O'Connor.

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas: directed by Mark Herman, adapted from the best-selling children's book by John Boyne. The film stars David Thewlis, Vera Farmiga and Asa Butterfield.

Eastern Promises: David Cronenberg's gripping drama, featuring critically hailed performances from Viggo Mortensen and Naomi Watts.

The History Boys: directed by Nicholas Hytner from Alan Bennett's adaptation of his own award-winning stage play.

Red Road: writer/director Andrea Arnold's Cannes Prix du Jury prize-winning first feature.

Notes on a Scandal: Dame Judi Dench and Cate Blanchett star in Richard Eyre's gripping drama. A Patrick Marber adaptation from Zoe Heller's novel.

Dirty Pretty Things: Stephen Frears' gripping thriller set in modern-day London from a Steven Knight script, starring Chiwetel Ejiofor and Audrey Tatou.

Billy Elliot: Stephen Daldry's tale of a young boy learning to dance. BBC Films' most successful film to date: it has taken some $100m worldwide, won three major British Academy Film Awards and was nominated for three Academy Awards®.

Want to know more about BBC Films?

If you would like to know more about BBC Films, release dates and related content, please visit the BBC Films website

Follow BBC Films on Twitter @BBCFilms

Contact details for the BBC Films team can be found in the Who's Who.

Submissions

BBC Films only accepts submissions from agents or production companies. Unsolicited scripts should be sent to the BBC Writersroom.

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