Promenade, a new film from John Jencks, has begun production in Brighton this week. More on the film below.
We’re hearing rumbles that a new British film is heading our way sooner rather than later from director John Jencks. The Hippopotamus director is helming Promenade, a Brighton set whodunnit, next and the project has just started filming, we hear.
The announcement comes with an ambiguous tagline: “50 CAST, 12 STORIES, 1 PLOT. NO HEROES.” Colour us intrigued.
Here’s a synopsis for the film: In Brighton on the South coast of England, sharpened by the sting of sea spray, and mellowed by numinous light, a tight-knit community of oddballs and heart-felts live together in a tatty old mansion, the Fletcher Apartments. When a golden feather, the priceless antique mascot of the building, unexpectedly disappears, the residents have a mystery to solve. Will they find the talisman that previously bound them together, or will their community, now divided against itself, irrevocably unravel?
As expected, the film has a very large cast. It includes, but is not limited to: Anna Chancellor, Roger Allam, Richard Katz, Doon Mackichan, John Finnemore, Malcom Kamulete, Lily Loveless, Purab Kohli, Emily Coates, Bertie Caplan, Elsa Zylberstein, Alan McKenna, Rosie Day, Diana Quick, Charley Palmer Rothwell, Manpreet Bambra, Aoife Hinds, Vahid Gold, Jamie Kenna, Kola Krauze, Gala Botero, Emma West, Julia Watson and Andy Secombe.
Excitingly, the production’s crew is made up of 50% women. We don’t need to tell you how rare that still is, so we’re glad to be writing a news story like this. Promenade is also one of the first UK films to take advantage of the new tax credit that was announced last month.
“Having spent seven years producing a superhero movie, I wanted to direct a film that was the diametric opposite. Promenade is a community-led film with no single hero. It has over 50 characters and 12 stories, tied together with one overarching plot. It all takes place in a block of flats in Brighton and will be one wild ride!” Jencks said of getting underway with Promenade.
The superhero movie he’s referring to here is presumably The Crow. Jencks is a producer on Rupert Sanders’ remake of the 1994 film of the same name and an adaptation of the 1989 comic book that inspired the 1994 film.
No release date for Promenade yet, but we’ll make sure to keep you updated.
