PRODUCTION / FUNDING UK / Germany
Tilda Swinton joins Colin Farrell in Edward Berger’s The Ballad of a Small Player
- The picture, produced for Netflix, follows a high-stakes gambler who lays low in Macau and encounters a kindred spirit who might just hold the key to his salvation
This week, Tilda Swinton (The Killer, The Eternal Daughter [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], The Souvenir [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] diptych) joined the cast of Edward Berger’s new feature, The Ballad of a Small Player, which is being produced for Netflix.
Berger previously directed the World War II-set drama All Quiet on the Western Front [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Edward Berger
film profile], which received a whopping 14 nominations at the 76th British Academy Film Awards, winning seven BAFTAs, including Best Film, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Director. It also racked up nine nominations for the 95th Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and won four, including for Best International Feature and Best Cinematography.
His most recent film is the UK-US co-production Conclave, starring Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci and Isabella Rossellini, slated for a release in November, courtesy of Focus Features.
The script for his new feature was penned by Rowan Joffe and is based on Lawrence Osborne’s 2014 novel of the same name. The Ballad of a Small Player centres on a high-stakes gambler. When his past and his debts start to catch up with him, he lays low in Macau and encounters a kindred spirit who might just hold the key to his salvation. Swinton will star as Cynthia Blithe, joining the previously announced Colin Farrell (The Banshees of Inisherin [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], The Killing of a Sacred Deer [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Yorgos Lanthimos
film profile]).
The Ballad of a Small Player is being produced by Mike Goodridge for Good Chaos (UK), the director himself for Nine Hours (Germany) and Matthew James Wilkinson for Stigma Films (UK). The project is set to shoot on location in Asia later this summer. The release date is yet to be disclosed.
Did you enjoy reading this article? Please subscribe to our newsletter to receive more stories like this directly in your inbox.
