Flicks and the City

During the Edinburgh International Film Festival London launch last week Journalist and Presenter Jan Gilbert interviewed Alex, Roland and Christine about Life Just Is and what EIFF means to them. You can watch the interviews below, or on Jan's film blog or YouTube channel. 

World Premiere set for Edinburgh International Film Festival!

I am absolutely thrilled to announce that the World Premiere of LIFE JUST IS will take place next month at the 66th Edinburgh International Film Festival! The team and I are extremely excited to be given the opportunity to launch the film at such a fantastic event, and many of us will be attending the festival in person.

The details of our two public screenings are as follows:

Saturday 23 June 15:15 Cineworld 3 (+ QA)
Wednesday 27 June 21:00 Cameo 1

Tickets go on sale at 12:00 today for Filmhouse Members, and at 10:00 tomorrow for non-members. To book tickets please call 0131 228 2688 or visit www.edfilmfest.org.uk. Tickets are also available in person at the Filmhouse Box Office.

For more information, please visit the film's page on the festival's website, here.

I hope to see some of you there!

- Alex

Picked Up by Independent

It brings me great pleasure to announce that Independent Distribution has acquired UK home entertainment rights for LIFE JUST IS, and will be releasing the film on DVD and VOD in the UK and Ireland later this year. We'll announce more details as we have them, but we are currently aiming for an autumn release. All of the team are extremely excited about this news, and we hope you will be too. INDEPENDENT's Head of Distribution Stefanie Fahrion has commented: "This is an engrossing and accomplished debut. We're very happy to give the film a home and foster our commitment to fresh and innovative filmmaking talent."

More soon.

- Alex

Finishing the Film

I'm a little bit late with cross-posting this, but I've just realised I never put something on here about a new piece I wrote for Directors Notes, detailing the final stages of our postproduction, Finishing the Film. Hope you enjoy it!

- Alex

First Reviews

As mentioned in our previous two posts (here and here), we held our Cast & Crew screening last month. As well as inviting people who worked on the film, we thought we'd invite a few critics along so that we could start getting a sense of how the film would be received among the critical fraternity. I think the response somewhat astonished us all. Here are a few excerpts from the reviews:

* * *

'In his first feature, Barrett has already acquired the skill to know exactly where to position his camera in order to suggest a view on the material without ever imposing such a view artificially... It may be a cliché, but Barrett's key influences clearly come not from art but rather from life, from the generosity and curiosity with which he has observed both his contemporaries and himself...for it seems to me that each of the central characters represents a different aspect of their creator's personality. It is tempting to describe LIFE JUST IS as one of the most promising debuts in contemporary cinema, but this temptation should be resisted. We are not dealing with promise here: we are dealing with achievement' - Brad Stevens, Sight & Sound contributor & author of Abel Ferrara: The Moral Vision

* * *

'The sharply written and skilfully acted LIFE JUST IS explores the emotionally fraught lives of its young characters with humour, intelligence and compassion. It's a confident and impressive debut from Alex Barrett' - Philip Concannon, Phil on Film

* * *

'LIFE JUST IS will hit a nerve with those going through the post-graduate slump but also resonate with anyone trying to work out their place in the world. It is a film that will connect with its intended audience due to the strong script and great characters...

A ferociously smart and perceptive film that confronts the issues of modern life. A strong debut that is as affecting as it is funny. It is so exciting and refreshing to see a British director make a film like this' - Katherine McLaughlin, Film Critic for Cinetalk

* * *

'Barrett's film is fresh and assured...For while his film is a kind of post graduate slacker film for the 2010s generation, it is also witty, moving, charming and well-paced... He has appeared in our presence as a confident, eloquent and articulate new voice - one that will be heard of in the not-so-far future and I for one, can't wait.

LIFE JUST IS has an engaging cast who carry off the equally engaging script with style and professionalism. Everything about the film, from locations to mise-en-scene and from visual quality to direction belie the micro-budget of the production. As both writer and director, Alex Barrett has arrived and arrived with class - the barefaced cheek!' - James B. Evans, Film Critic and Author. Contributor to Electric Sheep, Little White Lies and Cinema Scope

* * *

'Barrett is unafraid to tackle ‘proper’ spiritual issues and have his characters discuss the G— word. It’s a bold move. But this doesn’t mean they spend the whole time sitting around expostulating Kierkegaardianishly: there’s room for humour and even – thank... errrr ... heavens(?) - a sort of a knob gag. Which goes to make them seem all the more normal...

LIFE JUST IS is a controlled debut from an assured filmmaker confident to make his own film in his own way' - John Riley, Film Critic for Resonance 104.4fm

* * *

'Barrett's meticulous eye elevates this beyond many of his peers... The uniformly excellent (and good looking) cast deserve to break out as a result of their work here' - Hemanth Kissoon, Filmaluation

* * *

'The film manages to be both very large in scope, discussing religion and the existence of God, and also extremely intimate. The conversations are very realistic in the way they are written and are performed naturally by the cast, which really brings the characters to life…

Ultimately, once the film had finished, I find myself wishing I could see the next day in the lives of these characters. Watch it, and you’ll feel like you’ve made some new friends' - Tom Roberts, Manager Gate Cinema, Notting Hill and writer for Cinetalk.

Jayne Wisener Vlog: Life Just Is Cast & Crew Screening at BAFTA

End of Phase One

As some of you may have gathered from the various posts and tweets that have been flying around in the last week, Life Just Is is now finished. This blog might seem like a rather low-key way to announce what is, in many ways, the summit of everything that we've been working towards... but we are all too aware that our biggest challenges still lie ahead of us: breaking onto the festival circuit and trying to secure some kind of distribution deal. Completing the film is only half the battle. We have an exciting and scary time ahead of us as we enter the second phase of the Life Just Is journey.

This time last week, we were getting ready to hold our Cast and Crew screening at BAFTA. I'm pleased to say that the evening was a great success, and so far the response to the film has been amazing (especially from critics... more on which soon). For now, though, here are a few pictures from the evening, taken by the super awesome João Serejo. Enjoy!

- Alex

Left-Right: Producer Tom Stuart, Co-Producer Pat Wintersgill, Writer/Director Alex Barrett and Exec Producer Christine Hartland.

Producer Tom Stuart (left) with Writer/Director Alex Barrett (right).

Jayne Wiserner (Jay) with Alex Barrett (writer/director).

Music Supervisor James McWilliam (right).

The pre-screening drinks reception.

Writer/Director Alex Barrett (left) with Jef Streatfield, frontman of the band Plan A, whose song Moving Along is sung by 'David' (Will De Meo) in the film.

Writer/Director Alex Barrett (left) with Editor Murat Kebir (right).

 

Left-Right: Nathaniel Martello-White ('Tom'), Alex Barrett (writer/director), Will De Meo ('David'), Andrew Hawley ('Nick'), Jayne Wisener ('Jay') and Fiona Ryan ('Claire').

Joshua Osei ('Vince') with Writer/Director Alex Barrett.

Producer Tom Stuart (left) giving his intro.

Alex Barrett (Writer/Director) and Tom Stuart (Producer) giving their intros.

Writer/Director Alex Barrett giving his intro.

Actress Fiona Ryan ('Claire').

Costume Designer Charmaine Parram (left) talks to actress Fiona Ryan ('Claire', right).

Actress Alix Wilton Regan ('Zoe').