Three months after making its world premiere at the Berlinale, “The Party” has found a U.S. home. Writer-director Sally Potter’s latest feature has been acquired by Roadside Attractions, The Hollywood Reporter writes. Patricia Clarkson toplines the dark comedy.
Set in contemporary London, the black and white film centers on a celebration that goes horribly awry. “The Party” was shot in just 14 days and features a star-studded cast including Emily Mortimer (“Doll & Em”), Cherry Jones (“Transparent”), Kristin Scott Thomas (“The English Patient”), Cillian Murphy (“The Dark Knight Rises”), Bruno Ganz (“Downfall”), and Timothy Spall (“Denial”).
“Sally Potter’s ‘The Party’ may be one of the most witty, outrageous, biting, and entertaining movies that we have ever acquired,” said Roadside Attractions co-founders Howard Cohen and Eric d’Arbeloff. “It has an outstanding cast who take enormous pleasure sparring on screen, physically and verbally. We loved the film from start to bloody finish.”
The film was very warmly received at the Berlinale, and currently boasts a 100 percent “Fresh” rating at Rotten Tomatoes. “The Party” secured UK distribution earlier this month.
Potter is perhaps best known for her Oscar-nominated 1992 adaptation of Virginia Woolf’s “Orlando,” starring Tilda Swinton. She most recently directed the Elle Fanning-starrer “Ginger & Rosa,” a 2012 coming-of-age drama set during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Potter’s other credits include “The Tango Lesson,” “Yes,” and “The Man Who Cried.”
The former choreographer left school when she was 16 years old. “I’d made my first 8mm film at 14 and I absolutely, passionately wanted to be a film director. So I left school and struck out,” she has explained. “I got jobs in restaurants, washing carrots, and joined the London Filmmaker’s Co-op, making tiny, tiny films that just got bigger. Looking back, I think ‘Jesus, living alone, wanting to be a film director’… When I meet 16-year-olds, they’re so young, the little darlings.”
Unfortunately we’re going to have to wait a while to watch “The Party.” Roadside Attractions is planning a North American release for February 2018.
