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A Beast of Jersey-inspired thriller from a locally-born director has been shortlisted for a top Europe-wide award.
Michael Pearce’s ‘Beast’ was one of just three UK films to be nominated for a European Film Academy award in the Feature Film category.
The film is a tense thriller that draws on elements of Edward Paisnel’s decade-long reign of terror. Dubbed ‘the Beast of Jersey’ he was convicted in the early 1970s of a series of sex attacks on young children.
In the adaptation, Moll (Jessie Buckley) plays a misfit stuck in a job as a bus tour guide who falls for Pascal (Johnny Flynn), a shadowy man with a criminal record, and wrestles with her emotions. Playing out in the background are a series of murders of young women, an atmosphere against which islanders are desperately struggling to continue as normal.
Video: Film trailer for 'Beast'.
‘Beast’ was Michael Pearce's directorial debut, and after getting rave reviews at the Toronto Film festival, played to appreciative audiences locally in April. The Guardian gave it a four star review.
Now it’s one of 49 films recommended for nomination for the 2018 European Film Awards. The list includes films that have already scooped major awards including Adina Pintilie’s Berlin winner Touch Me Not and Cannes prize winners Cold War, Dogman and Happy As Lazzaro. It's just one of three produced in the UK, alongside Cold War, which also involved Poland and France, and Paddington 2.
The shortlist was put together by 20 countries with the highest number of EFA members, as well as a special selection committee, which included the EFA Board and several experts.
In the coming weeks, more than 3,500 members of the European Film Academy will vote for the nominations in the categories European Film, Director, Actor, Actress and Screenwriter.
The nominations will then be announced on November 10 at the Seville European Film Festival in Spain before the awards ceremony on December 15 in Seville.
At Beast’s Jersey premiere, Pearce hosted a question and answer session. He said that filming the movie at home helped him explore his love/hate relationship with Jersey. He also admitted it wasn’t exactly a piece of cake to convince the producers that they would get more "magic with the landscapes” than anywhere else in the UK.
“I wanted to embrace how enchanting the island is,” said Pearce.
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