'Breathe'

A film I've been working on for a long time is finally completed, and will be in cinemas from late October. It's called 'Breathe', and stars Andrew Garfield and Claire Foy, and is directed by Andy Serkis. I'm hugely proud of this film - the performances by the leads are remarkable, as is Andy's directing - and the result delivers an unusually powerful experience. It's based on a true story, in fact the story of the producer Jonathan Cavendish's father, a story he first told me ten years ago now. His father, Robin Cavendish, contracted polio just before Jonathan was born, and became paralysed from the neck down. On learning he would only survive by having a machine breathe for him for the rest of his life, he begged his wife to let him die. She insisted that he live so that their son could know him. He lived, and what should have been a disaster turned into an extraordinary affirmation of life, centred on an extraordinary marriage. Yes, I know, it sounds like a downer. I can only tell you it's glorious, and you'll have to see it to believe me. 

'Breathe' has been selected to open the London Film Festival on October 4 2017, and goes on general release in the UK shortly after.