Archive of films Me Without You / Me Without You

United Kingdom
2001, 107 min

Section: Focus on British Film (2000-2005)
Year: 2006

This bitter-sweet comedy about female friendship in the new millennium is dominated by performances from Anna Friel and Michelle Williams, nominated for an Oscar for the film Brokeback Mountain, as the assertive Marina and the demure Holly, two childhood friends whose intense bond finally turns out to be stronger than both of them.

Synopsis

Following up her windswept period drama The Governess, director Sandra Goldbacher made a refreshing segue into this 2001 bitter-sweet comedy about female friendship. Anna Friel and Michelle Williams (a future Oscar nominee for Brokeback Mountain) star as feisty Marina and shy Holly: two childhood pals whose intense bond finally overwhelms them. Beginning in early-70s suburbia, the story flashes forward to the punk era, a spell at university in the southern coastal town of Brighton, and beyond – perfectly capturing, along the way, the messy complications of growing up and growing apart. From a script by Goldbacher and French-born, London-based Laurence Coriat (Michael Winterbottom’s Wonderland), Me Without You also stars Kyle MacLachlan as a predatory college lecturer, Trudie Styler as Marina’s fading glamourpuss mum, and Oliver Milburn, who plays Marina’s elder brother and the secret object of Holly’s affection.

About the director

Sandra Goldbacher (b. 1961, London) studied French literature at Brighton University, and then took a year-long course in film and video at Middlesex University. She found work in TV documentaries, including the BBC architecture series Building Sights. She also landed gigs directing commercials for clients including Absolut, Evian and Philips, and in 1994 made two shorts, Seventeen, starring Rachel Weisz, and Piccadilly Circus By Night. Her debut feature, 1998’s The Governess, starring Minnie Driver and Jonathan Rhys Meyers, won her a special Debut Film prize at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, as well as the Hitchcock Award for Best Film at the Dinard British Film Festival. Me Without You is her second feature.

Contacts

British Council
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 207 389 3067
Fax: +44 207 389 3175
E-mail: [email protected]
www: www.britishcouncil.org/film

Hollywood Classic Entertainment
Psohlavců 8, 147 00, Praha 4
Czech Republic
Tel: +420 226 224 111
Fax: +420 226 224 110
E-mail: [email protected]
www: www.hce.cz

Capitol Films
, W2 1LA, London
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 207 298 6200
Fax: +44 207 298 6201
E-mail: [email protected]
www: www.capitolfilms.com

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About the film

Color, 35 mm

Section:	Focus on British Film (2000-2005)

Director:	Sandra Goldbacher
Screenplay:	Sandra Goldbacher, Laurence Coriat
Dir. of Photography:	Denis Crossan
Music:	Adrian Johnston
Editor:	Michael Ellis
Producer:	Finola Dwyer
Production:	Momentum Pictures
Cast:	Anna Friel, Michelle Williams, Kyle MacLachlan, Oliver Milburn, Trudie Styler
Contact:	British Council, Hollywood Classic Entertainment, Capitol Films
Distributor:	Hollywood Classic Entertainment

Guests

Geraldine Higgins

Petr Plewka

Distributor

Marta Vaněčková

Distributor