JOE IN NEW PLAY!!
Fiennes, Hart and Logan to Star in U.K. Premiere of 2,000 Feet Away
By Mark Shenton
09 May 2008
Joseph Fiennes ("Elizabeth," "Shakespeare in Love"), Ian Hart ("Finding Neverland," "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone," "The End of the Affair" and TV's "Dirt") and Phyllis Logan ("Secrets and Lies," "Another Time Another Place") will star in the U.K. premiere of Australian writer Anthony Weigh's debut play, 2,000 Feet Away.
Previews will begin at the Bush Theatre June 11 with an official opening scheduled for June 16. The production is currently booking through July 12.
Set in the tiny community of Eldon, Iowa, in the heartland of America, the play revolves around a Deputy Sheriff who is charged with enforcing the new state law banning sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of schools, parks, bus stops, public libraries, or anywhere else children may gather. When the deputy is compelled to evict his neighbors' son, the new law hits home. Over the course of this single weekend, fear and intolerance swell in Eldon, and the two men are thrown together to discover that there is nowhere in this vast landscape for Iowa's outcasts to go.
Fiennes was most recently seen onstage in John Osborne's Epitaph for George Dillon, revived at the West End's Comedy Theatre in 2005. Other stage work includes Love's Labours Lost (National Theatre), Real Classy Affair (Royal Court), Edward II (Sheffield Crucible) and Troilus and Cressida (RSC). In addition to "Elizabeth" (in which he played Robert Dudley) and "Shakespeare in Love" (in which he played Will Shakespeare), his other films include "Rancid Aluminum," "The Escapist," "Stealing Beauty" and "Martha – Meet Frank, Daniel and Laurence."
Hart was last seen onstage in Harold Pinter's The Homecoming, revived at the Comedy Theatre in 2001. Logan has appeared onstage in Richard III (Sheffield), Gaucho (Hampstead) and Minor Complications (Royal Court). Her TV roles include playing Lady Jane in "Lovejoy." Further casting is to be announced.
Actor-turned-playwright Anthony Weigh wrote this play while on attachment to London's National Theatre. It had its world premiere at Sydney's Belvoir Street Theatre in November 2007.
The production is directed by Josie Rourke, artistic director of the Bush, where she recently directed Lucy Kirkwood's Tinderbox and Ian McHugh's How to Curse. She has previously directed The Cryptogram at the Donmar Warehouse, King John for the RSC and Crazyblackmuthafuckin'self at the Royal Court.
Reminder that The Color of Freedom (Goodbye Bafana) will be released on DVD in the United States on May 20.
Check out the German trailer for The Red Baron here:
The Escapist was the "surprise film" at the Dublin Film Festival yesterday.
Please check out the press section under transcripts to read Joe's forward in Stanley Wells' book Coffee with Shakespeare.
From Russia Today.com about The Spirit
Lights, Camera, Action!
The star of ‘Shakespeare in Love’ has made his first film as director in Russia. Joseph Fiennes' directorial debut, a short film entitled "The Spirit", is dark and poetic - just like his favourite Russian saying: “How do you make God laugh? Tell him your plans.”
Russian actor Eduard Flerov says the eight shooting days were some of the happiest moments in his entire career.
"It’s the first time I've worked with a British director. it didn't matter it was his directorial debut - what did matter was that he is a talented person with a lot of experience, even though as an actor. But we didn’t feel it was the first time in his life he was behind the camera,” Flerov said.
It wasn't the first time the Russian World Studios had teamed up with a foreign director.
The company owns state-of-the-art equipment, sound and editing studios and offers their services to major film companies from Russia and overseas.
Russian World Studios Head, Andrey Smirnov, says they're aiming at changing the image of Russian cinema in the world.
“We are trying to show that Russia is a country where one can and should produce films. It's very important for all of us because when we cooperate with foreign production companies we learn something. We've worked with Sony, Hallmark, HBO and made a reputation as a trustworthy company,” Andrey Smirnov said.
In any case the collaboration certainly worked out for Fiennes, as the actor turned director recently picked up a special prize in the "Cinema for Peace" category at the Berlin Film Festival for "The Spirit."
The Spirit won Best Short Film at The Cimena For Peace Event at Berlinale Film Festival on February 11. Joe directed this short film.
February 12, 2008
Joe (and Maria) were at the Cinema for Peace Event in Berlin, Germany, on February 11, 2008. Please check photo section for pics.
February 11, 2008 from centredaily.com
The deal was brokered by Celluloid president Hengameh Panahi and Image Entertainment UK's managing director Wendy Rutland.
"We are very pleased to be acquiring three films of such a high caliber from Celluloid Dreams," said Rutland. "We have been aggressively intensifying our hunt for quality feature films, and we are looking forward to working with Celluloid Dreams as we increase our ever-growing roster of titles."
Under the terms of the agreement, Image Entertainment will acquire the North American distribution rights for "Far North" and U.S. rights for "The Color of Freedom" (originally released as "Goodbye Bafana") and "Emotional Arithmetic." "The Color of Freedom" has been signed and is slated for DVD release on May 20; release dates for the other two films will be set promptly upon final signature.
"The Color of Freedom" premiered at the Berlin Film Festival and stars Joseph Fiennes, Dennis Haysbert and Diana Kruger. It tells the true story of James Gregory, a white South African prison guard whose views were altered by the prisoner he guarded for twenty years - Nelson Mandela. The film was directed by Bille August, winner of The Peace Film Award and produced by Jean-Luc Van Damme of Banana Films, Ilann Girard of Arsam International and Andro Steinborn of X Filme Creative Poole.
At the beginning of the month, we posted about technical problems impeding on the update process for this website. Luckily, since then, the problem was quickly resolved with the help of a web designer and the update process is now back in place. Keep your eyes open for new content and page updates! Thank you for your patience and support, and visit us again soon!
Joe is in Dubai today (hopefully) for a gala for a Swiss watch company. Hopefully there will be pics. Red Baron is opening in Germany April 10 and The Escapist April 11. in the UK. Please dont be shy and let us know if you see them and what you thought on the message board! Your opinions mean more than critics to us!
Pic of the IWC Schaffhausen event of Joe performing Minutes of Separation at The Crossing Gala are in the photo section.
Joe did voice work in Berlin for a short animated film called A Lost and Found Box of Human Sensation. There are pics of the recording session in the photo section. See the link in the message forum to find out more about the project.
Youtube has the trailer for Against the Current. Link to it is on the message board. Check it out.
Joe and Maria were at the Hugo Boss jewelry launch on 4/17.
Check out the web site for The Escapist at www.escapistthemovie.com. The trailer is on there now plus the whole web site has changed. Also, the film is not opening this week as originally thought. It will be opening in June in the UK. Also, it has been bought by a company for release in the US in the fall.
Many thanks to Joefan for allowing me to add some pics from her site. If you havent checked it out yet, do so at www.j-fiennes.net.