Press release: Friday June 15th 2012
NEW BRITISH FILM ‘UNCONDITIONAL’
STARRING CHRISTIAN COOKE, HARRY McENTIRE, MELANIE HILL,
MADELEINE CLARK AND JAMES BOLAM SELECTED TO SCREEN
AT THE EDINBURGH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
“An impressively made and darkly disturbing drama, nicely scripted and
impressively shot...a delightfully skewed look at that dramatic cliché of obsessive
love driven by impressive performances… Its brooding style and crisp
cinematography mark director Bryn Higgins out as filmmaker to be watched…
Screen International, Mark Adams, Chief Film Critic
"A potent mix of class, gender, sexual and generational tensions with excellent
performances"
San Francisco Chronicle
“Everything from the look of the film to the flow of the edit enhances that raw
unpredictability.”
Filmthreat.com, Mark Bell
UNCONDITIONAL, a new British film starring some of the UK’s most exciting young
actors, Christian Cooke (pictured above), Harry McEntire and Madeleine Clark,
will have its UK premiere at the 65th Edinburgh International Film Festival in
Edinburgh, Scotland, June 20th-July 1st.
The film will be screened at 6.30pm on Monday 25 th June at Cineworld 5. Harry
McEntire, Madeleine Clark and director Bryn Higgins will be attending EIFF.
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UNCONDITIONAL is the darkly humorous and twisted love story of two teenage
twins (Owen and Kristen) played by Harry and Madeleine, who fall under the spell of
a charismatic man (Liam) played by Christian, offering love on one condition: the boy
becomes his sister.
American audiences have just seen Christian Cooke playing lawyer Danny Evans
with Danny Huston, Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Dominik García-Lorido in the highly
successful Miami-mobster set TV series, Magic City, now preparing for a second
season. Christian recently starred as Mercutio in the new feature film of Romeo and
Juliet with Hailee Steinfeld, Douglas Booth and Paul Giamatti, directed by Carlo
Carlei and written by Oscar™-winner Julian Fellowes, which filmed in Italy. Christian
is also playing Robinson Crusoe in a major new adaptation, filming in Costa Rica
and Malta. Very much an emerging British star, Christian has also starred in
Paramount’s Destination Wedding, the BAFTA-nominated series The Promise and
was the co-lead in Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant’s British comedy hit,
Cemetery Junction.
Harry McEntire is currently starring in the second season of Showtime series
Episodes with Golden Globe-winner Matt LeBlanc and earlier this year in John
Carter of Mars, the big budget sci-fi film based on the Edgar Rice Burroughs novel
and directed and co-written by Oscar™-winning filmmaker Andrew Stanton.
UNCONDITIONAL marks the feature film debut for actress Madeleine Clark who
plays Harry’s twin sister in the film. “Madeleine was the last person among hundreds
seen during casting,” says producer Clare Duggan. “She was from the steel town of
Redcar, near to where we planned to film, and had heard about the auditions from a
friend. A hugely natural young actor who gives a breakout performance in this film,
Madeleine is also a gifted songwriter and has just recorded her first album.”
Also starring in UNCONDITIONAL are Melanie Hill (Stardust, From Hell and
Brassed Off) who plays the twins’ mother in the film and James Bolam (The Last
Days of the Lehman Brothers, Celebration, The End of the Affair) who plays Hutch, a
coastal guesthouse owner.
UNCONDITIONAL marks the feature film directorial debut of Bryn Higgins who also
produced the film with executive producer Clare Duggan of Stone City Films. Bryn’s
most recent drama, Garrow’s Law, is a major hit in the UK having been nominated
for BAFTA and Royal Television Society awards. Clare is an established producer
of BBC award-winning series and films having started her career as a
producer/reporter for Channel 4.
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Screenwriter Joe Fisher’s first feature was the acclaimed British film, The Tichborne
Claimant, followed by Saint Nazaire for Warner Bros, the BAFTA-winning TV film
Soundproof and an adaptation of the best-selling novel A Short History of Tractors in
Ukranian for Ruby Films.
BAFTA-winning director of photography Paul Otter shot UNCONDITIONAL against
the starkly beautiful landscapes of the north-east of England close to his native
Newcastle. The haunting score for the film has been written by John Lunn (Downton
Abbey, Little Dorrit, Once Upon a Time in the Midlands), one of the UK’s most
accomplished award-winning composers.
Producer Clare Duggan says: “With Unconditional we have been able to bring
together highly talented filmmakers, actors and crew to create a story that captures
the excitement, intensity and fears that collide in young love in a very intimate,
challenging and human way.”
Director Bryn Higgins says: “I love stories that expose how ordinary people often
have rampaging inner lives or put themselves under unbearable pressure trying to
be normal or how our search for love can get us into a real mess. Joe’s wonderful
script shines an unerring light on all three.”
Screen writer Joe Fisher says: “In one sense Unconditional is a fable, a fairytale of
one person living his dream and another person agreeing to live someone else's. In
a more general sense it's about the incredible power you give another person over
you when you fall in love with them.”
UNCONDITIONAL is Stone City’s first feature film and was filmed in the North-East
of England after receiving investment from the Finance for Business North East
Creative Content Fund, a unique partnership between Northern Film + Media (NFM)
and Northstar Ventures. The fund was backed by the European Regional
Development Fund. The film was funded in development by BBC Films.
Other feature films backed by the Finance for Business North East Creative Content
Fund include Paul Andrew Williams’ Song for Marion starring Gemma Arterton,
Vanessa Redgrave and Terence Stamp, Dan Turner’s The Man Inside starring Peter
Mullan, and The Liability, starring Tim Roth.
Tom Harvey MBE, and Chief Executive Officer of NFM says: “Darkly humorous
thriller Unconditional is a fine example of the slate of distinctive, intelligent films that
have been funded and made in North East England recently. Our investment has
helped to revitalise the industry here and has been transformational both for the
region and the talent we have been able to support.”
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To see the trailer for UNCONDITIONAL go to http://unconditionalmovieuk.com
For sales information contact Media Luna
Alessandro Lombardo
Acquisitions & Festivals
Direct line: +49 221 510 91892
alessandro@medialuna.biz
Ida Martins (mobile: +49 170 9667900)
Aachener Strasse 24 | D-50674 Cologne - Germany
Tel.: +49 221 51091891 | Fax: +49 221 51091899
idamartins@medialuna.biz
www.medialuna.biz
For further information contact
Tina McFarling
Premier PR
D: +44 (0) 20 7292 8347
M: +44 (0) 7879 421 578
www.premierpr.com
tina.mcfarling@premierpr.com
Clare Duggan
Executive Producer
Stone City Films Ltd
D: +44 207 405 9111
clare@stonecity.co.uk
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Notes to Editors
About Northern Film & Media
Northern Film & Media (NFM) is a creative industry development agency based in
Newcastle. Our vision is to create a strong commercial creative economy in the North East
by commercialising talent and ideas.
Historically we have generated £4 for every £1 of public money we have invested.
NFM provides the link between talent, experts and the market, introducing the talent to the
market and introducing the market to the talent.
The independent agency invests in talented individuals and innovative companies, ensuring
that creative enterprise succeeds in national, regional and international markets.
NFM takes an entrepreneurial rather than bureaucratic approach, drawing funding from a
number of sources to deliver a high economic return for the North East. However, funding is
only part of the picture. Because the agency is industry-led and agile, NFM uses seed
investment, influence, leverage, industry expertise and partnership working to make an
impact.
Northern Film & Media has become an efficient and dynamic entity for supporting creative
industry development and have an industry board, including practitioners from film,
television, games, web, mobile, games and music.
NFM has invested in innovative low budget feature films including Turner Prize winning artist
Gillian Wearing’s directorial debut Self Made, the teen horror Rising Tide, psychological
thrillers Frank and Sean Conway’s sexually charged drama brilliantlove (released as The
Orgasm Diaries in the US).
http://www.northernmedia.org/
About Northstar Ventures
Northstar is a venture capital company dedicated to building successful high growth
businesses across the North East of England. The £2.4m Finance for Business North East
Creative Content Fund is one of the funds that we manage and is backed by the European
Regional Development Fund.
The Creative Content Fund was aimed at the North East commercial creative sector, with a
particular focus on the region’s TV, film, interactive media, music and games industries.
Northstar worked closely with Northern Film & Media to deliver the Creative Fund.
Northstar Ventures is a trading name of NorthStar Equity Investors Limited. NorthStar Equity
Investors Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.
Finance for Business North East is part of the Government’s Solutions for Business portfolio
of publicly funded help to companies to start, grow and succeed. Solutions for Business
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makes it easier to get the advice and assistance they need. More information can be found
at www.businesslink.gov.uk/solutions.
About ERDF

The ERDF Competitiveness programme 2007-13 for North East England is managed
by One North East on behalf of the European Commission, national government and
regional partners.

The ERDF Competitiveness programme 2007-13 is focusing on:

Innovation – promoting science technology and innovation in businesses and
institutions across the region.

Enterprise and business support – encouraging more people to start up in business,
particularly those in disadvantaged areas, and helping established businesses
develop, grow and innovate.

Over £300m ERDF is available for the region from 2007-13. ERDF investment is
limited to 50% of total eligible cost and must be matched by other public and private
sources. For every pound of ERDF investment, we lever another pound for the key
priorities of innovation, enterprise and business support.

The programme is underpinned by the three important cross cutting themes of
environmental sustainability, equality of opportunity and sustainable communities.
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