Matthew John's HEDDA GABLER Film Adaptation Debuts at Cannes

What is set to be the most lavish production yet filmed of Henrik Ibsen's classic stage drama HEDDA GABLER was premiered at Cannes on 22 May in the Palais des Festivals.

Shooting for Hedda finished earlier this month at its lavish, historic location in Somerset, UK. Already, there is growing interest from distributors in Europe and Australia, and a major UK broadcaster.

Taking full advantage of the opportunities film adaptation presents, this production will be more daring and explicit than any other previous film or television version. The move is likely to be a controversial one with Ibsen fans. Characters referred to, which never appear in the stage play, will be created for the first time and make their dramatic debut.

The adaptation has been made by Matthew John, a young British filmmaker for which Hedda is also his directorial debut.

"I know it's a big risk, and I know there will be many Ibsen purists who will criticise us heavily over this," said Matthew John. "But I believe we're only doing what Ibsen himself would have done had he been adapting the stage play into a film script."

The famous wild party where Hedda's former lover, Ejlert Løvberg falls off the waggon and loses his precious manuscript is only reported by other characters in the play, but not shown. Some previous television and film adaptations have shown it. Matthew John's Hedda not only turns this into a complete scene in itself, but also creates for the first time a proper role for Mademoiselle Diana, the red-headed prostitute with whom Løvberg is involved. Her debut appearance is being created by actress Grace Gray.

This is also the first motion picture production of Hedda Gabler to be shot using high definition and other latest technical production values. Costumes, more lavish than in any previous filmed production, have been especially designed and created for the film and there is a lavish use of many more extras. The heavily Victorian interiors of Maunsel House 2 in Somerset provide a location more lavishly exotic than in any other previous film or teleVision Productions.

The cast of up-and-coming young British actors is headed by Hedda star Rita Ramnani. Speaking about her role, often regarded as the female Hamlet, in a recent BBC interview, Rita said she believes the character of Hedda will resonate strongly with today's audiences.

The Hedda production 4 is also to feature in a forthcoming documentary, Fires We're Starting, by the British Film Alliance which looks at how filmmakers in Britain today, in these exceptionally difficult times, overcome the challenges and bring their projects into being.

For more about the film, visit www.hedda-movie.com, www.imdb.com/title/tt2270456, www.facebook.com/HeddaMovie, https://twitter.com/Hedda_movie and www.maunselhouse.co.uk.

Pictured: Aunt Juliana (Christine Winter) and her nephew, Jorgen Tesman (David R Butler). Photo Credit: Robert Lipnicki.

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