Bait director sets next film with Film4

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Cornish writer/director Mark Jenkin, a double BAFTA-nominee last week for his debut feature Bait, has set his next project, Enys Men (Cornish for stone island), an ‘ecosophical’ horror film which is expected to shoot in and around Cornwall in May.

Jenkin will direct from his own script. The producer is Denzil Monk for Bosena. Johnny Fewings is executive producer with Kate Byers and Linn Waite as associate producers.

Film4 will co-finance the film, with senior commissioning executive Lauren Dark overseeing late stage development and production. Further development and production support come from Sound Image Cinema Lab (Falmouth University).

Bait was the British arthouse sleeper hit of 2019. Privately financed, black-and-white, hand-processed and shot on a vintage 16mm camera, the Cornish fishing village-set drama debuted in the Forum at the Berlin International Film Festival before launching via BFI Distribution to rave reviews in UK cinemas on August 30th.

Word of mouth and critical support powered the film to a lengthy run in UK cinemas where it has grossed over £470k to date and is still playing around the country. The film has screened at 42 international film festivals with international sales to be announced soon.

Bait is nominated for Outstanding British Film of the Year and Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer at the BAFTAs; British/Irish Film of the Year and Breakthrough British/Irish Filmmaker of the Year at the London Critics Circle Film Awards; and was nominated for four British Independent Film Awards, winning Breakthrough Producer (Linn Waite and Kate Byers).