PRIDE, directed by Matthew Warchus, has been selected to close Directors’ Fortnight at the 2014 International Cannes Film Festival on 23rd May.
Previous British films that have premiered in Directors’ Fortnight include Stephen Daldry’s BILLY ELLIOT and Damien O’Donnell’s EAST IS EAST.
With an award-winning, all-star ensemble cast including Bill Nighy, Imelda Staunton, Dominic West, Andrew Scott and Paddy Considine, PRIDE is an uplifting British comedy drama inspired by a remarkable true story.
Set in the summer of 1984 – Margaret Thatcher is in power and the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) is on strike. At the Gay Pride March in London, a group of gay and lesbian activists decides to raise money to support the families of the striking miners. But there is a problem; the Union seems embarrassed to receive their support.
But the activists are not deterred. They decide to ignore the Union and go direct to the miners. They identify a mining village in deepest Wales and set off in a mini bus to make their donation in person. And so begins the extraordinary story of two seemingly alien communities who form a surprising and ultimately triumphant partnership.
Directed by the Tony award winning theatre director Matthew Warchus (Matilda: The Musical, God Of Carnage), the screenplay is written by Stephen Beresford whose debut stage play, The Last Of The Haussmans (starring Julie Walters), was a critical and commercial hit at the National Theatre in 2012.
Produced by David Livingstone for Calamity Films and Executive Produced by Pathe’s Cameron McCracken and BBC Films’ Christine Langan, with Natascha Wharton as lead executive for the BFI Film Fund, the film was developed by Calamity Films and Pathe and co-financed by Pathe, Proud Films, BBC Films and the BFI.
