David Farnor | On 31, Jan 2020

Phillida Lloyd’s herself is heading to the London Film Festival next month, before going to be released in UK cinemas.

It follows the story of Sandra (Clare Dunne), who on the surface of it, is a young Mum struggling to provide her two young daughters with a warm, safe, happy home to grow up in. Beneath the surface, Sandra has a steely determination to change their lives for the better and when it becomes clear that there are no other options left to her, she decides to build it herself from scratch, drawing together a community of friends to support her.

Co-starring Harriet Walter (Killing Eve, Succession), Conleth Hill (Game of Thrones) and Cathy Belton (Philomena), it is written by Clare Dunne and Malcolm Campbell (What Richard Did). The film premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, where Amazon Studios promptly snapped up the US rights. In the UK, Picturehouse Entertainment and Element Distribution will release the films in UK cinemas on 16th October, but first will stop off at the London Film Festival to have its UK premiere on 8th October.

It is one of a number of films at the London Film Festival that are screening in cinemas and also streaming online. The film will premiere at BFI Southbank at 5.50pm on 8th October, followed by screenings at other UK cinemas. The virtual screening will take place on BFI Player at 6.30pm.

For more on how the festival will work, click here – or head this way for our guide to what to watch at the fest.

Here’s the trailer:

 

Sundance 2020: Amazon acquires Phyllida Lloyd’s Herself

31st January 2020

Amazon has made its second Sundance purchase of the year with a US deal for Herself.

The drama follows Sandra, an Irish single mother of two young girls, who faces a dire situation. An attack by her abusive ex-husband and a housing crisis in Dublin leave her living in fear and unable to find a new home. Temporarily living with her two daughters in a cramped hotel room and battling a system that refuses to help her, Sandra is determined to create some stability and security for the three of them. Seeing no other options, she decides to build her own house, literally and metaphorically pouring the foundation of her own future.

Amazon Studios has nabbed the North American rights, with a US theatrical release for later this year, so you can expect it to arrive on Amazon Prime Video worldwide much further down the line.

Clare Dunne wrote and stars in the film, alondside co-stars Molly McCann, Ruby Rose O’Hara, Harriet Walter, Conleth Hill and Ian Lloyd Anderson. While it lacks big-hitting on-screen talent like Uncle Frank, Amazon’s other Sundance acquisition, Lloyd is a big name in her own right, having just helmed Tina: The Tina Turner Musical on Broadway and directed the smash hit Mamma Mia! and the Oscar-winning The Iron Lady.

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