Editor’s note: Deadline’s Read the Screenplay series debuts and celebrates the screenplays of films that will appear in this year’s film awards races.
Scottish filmmaker Charlotte Wells is one of the biggest breakthroughs of this awards season with her fascinating feature debut After sun.
The film debuted at the Cannes Film Festival in May and has since graced almost every major international film festival with a string of early awards season wins. Well’s impressive winning streak includes Best British Independent Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Debut Director at the British Independent Film Awards.
A24 picked up the film after its premiere in Cannes Critics’ Week programs and released it in October.
Inspired by, but not based on, Wells’ experiences as a child of young parents, the poignant 1990s film explores the complex relationship between a father and daughter against the backdrop of an exciting holiday that takes the couple to a resort in Turkey took.
The plot is deceptively simple, almost docu-realistic in its methodical rhythm, until the story begins to turn into something much more sophisticated, with haunting performances by Paul Mescal (normal people) and newcomer Frankie Corio.
“I’m actually quite impressed by the fact that this film is reaching – and can reach – so many people,” Wells told Deadline After sun‘s success, including multiple nominations at the Gothams and Spirit Awards. “I mean, I didn’t choose to do this film. It came from a place of expression, and you don’t think about an audience at all when you start writing something.
The film was produced by Barry Jenkins and Adele Romanski’s Pastel Pictures, which Wells discovered thanks to one of their short films screened at the 2017 Toronto Film Festival.
“We kept in touch after our first meeting and I promised [Romanski] the script. Finally, two years later, I delivered it,” she said of their collaboration.
“We have developed the script a lot over the past two years. Of course the pandemic got in the way, but we always moved towards production.”
Click below to read it.
Author: Zac Ntim
Source: Deadline
Ashley Root is an author and celebrity journalist who writes for The Fashion Vibes. With a keen eye for all things celebrity, Ashley is always up-to-date on the latest gossip and trends in the world of entertainment.
