Two feature films made by North West filmmakers, ‘Kandahar Break’ and ‘Splintered’ are set to be released in September.
Kandahar Break, made by Bolton filmmaker David Whitney, is being released at UK and US Cinemas. The film, which has proved popular at film festivals across the globe, has also just won the award for Best Film at The Philadelphia Independent Film Festival.
Kandahar Break tells the fictional story of a British mine clearance engineer working for the Taliban government in Afghanistan who must flee the country when he becomes embroiled in a deadly game of intrigue and betrayal.
The film utilised a mainly North West based crew who travelled to Pakistan in 2008. Towards the end of filming, the crew were attacked by gunmen, who shot four Pakistani members of the team. Thankfully, all survived, but the British cast and crew were immediately evacuated by the Pakistani government, and in November 2008 filming was completed with a short shoot in Tunisia.
Read an interview with David Whitney about the release on How-Do and visit the Kandahar Break website for more information about the film.
Meanwhile, Manchester filmmakers Simeon Halligan and Rachel Richardson-Jones will see their first feature film, SPLINTERED released across UK cinemas on 3 September, with a glamorous London premiere and after party.
SPLINTERED, a tense psychological thriller made on a micro budget was shot in the North West and was made by Manchester based film production company NOT A NUMBER. They drew on the wealth of local talent with most of the cast and crew coming from the North West region.
SPLINTERED will be released across UK cinemas on 3 September and available to buy on DVD from 6 September. For more information visit the Splintered website.
Tara Cook, Head of Film at Vision+Media comments: “The teams behind Kandahar Break and Splintered need to be commended and applauded on their achievements. The cinema releases of these films demonstrate that despite a difficult climate, regional filmmakers can make impact on the film industry at large.
“By supporting Dave Whitney to attend film festivals through our bursaries, he was able meet with distributors, resulting in the release of the film. We also supported the team behind Splintered via skills training, film bursaries and seed funding.
“We believe that continued specialist support such as this is vital to ensure that the region fulfils its potential as a world class film hub. By supporting our talent, we can strengthen our region’s film business and create a legacy for the future.”