''Silver Haze'' is a 2023 British-Dutch co-production

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

, written and directed by

Sacha Polak Sacha Polak (born 1982) is a Dutch film director. Career In 2012 Polak's feature film debut ''Hemel'' played at the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival. Additionally her short ''Brother'' and her step-mother Meral Uslu's film on which she was ...

and starring Vicky Knight, Esmé Creed-Miles, Charlotte Knight, Archie Brigden and

Angela Bruce Angela Bruce (born 6 May 1951) is an English actress, noted for her television work. Bruce was born in Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire to a West Indian father and white mother, but was put up for adoption aged three, and brought up in Craghead, ...

. The film follows 23-year-old Franky, a nurse who, obsessed with a thirst for revenge and a need to assign guilt for a traumatic event that happened 15 years before, is unable to build any meaningful relationship until she falls in love with one of her patients – Florence. It was nominated to compete for the Panorama Audience Award at the

73rd Berlin International Film Festival The 73rd annual Berlin International Film Festival, usually called the Berlinale (), took place from 16 to 26 February 2023. It was the first completely in-person Berlinale since the 70th in 2020. The festival has added a new award for best te ...

, where it had its world premiere on February 19, 2023. The film was also nominated for Best Feature Film

Teddy Award The Teddy Award is an international film award for films with LGBT topics, presented by an independent jury as an official award of the Berlin International Film Festival (the Berlinale). In the most part, the jury consists of organisers of gay a ...

, but it won Teddy Award Jury prize.

Cast

* Vicky Knight as Franky * Esmé Creed-Miles as Florence * Charlotte Knight as Leah * Archie Brigden as Jack *

as Alice * Alfie Deegan * Sandra Kwiek * Brandon Bendell * Carrie Bunyan * Sarah-Jane Dent * Cain Aiden

Production

participated in the Les Arcs work-in-progress selection in 2021, it was among 15 projects selected for work in progress section out of 164 participants. There the film won a special jury mention in the work-in-progress section. Vicky Knight was selected as the main lead, the film is partly inspired by Knight's own experiences of having one third of her body burnt in a fire at the age of eight. The film is produced by the Viking Film from Netherlands and EMU Films from United Kingdom. It was shot in 2021 in

Dagenham Dagenham () is a town in East London, England, within the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. Dagenham is centred east of Charing Cross. It was historically a rural parish in the Becontree Hundred of Essex, stretching from Hainault Forest ...

and

Southend Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authority area with borough status in southeastern Essex, England. It lies on the north side of the Thames Estuary, east of central London. It is bordered ...

in the United Kingdom. It completed post-production in 2022.

Release

''Silver Haze'' had its premiere on February 19, 2023, as part of the

, in Panorama. It was reported on 9 December 2022, that Poland-based sales agent New Europe Film Sales has acquired the worldwide rights. They have already sold the film to The Jokers for distribution in France and Cineart in

Benelux The Benelux Union ( nl, Benelux Unie; french: Union Benelux; lb, Benelux-Unioun), also known as simply Benelux, is a politico-economic union and formal international intergovernmental cooperation of three neighboring states in western Europe: B ...

. The film will be screened at 2023 BFI London Film Festival in 'Strand' section under 'Love' theme on 6 October, 2023

Reception

Wendy Ide for ''

ScreenDaily ''Screen International'' is a British film magazine covering the international film business. It is published by Media Business Insight, a British B2B media company. The magazine is primarily aimed at those involved in the global film business. ...

'' wrote in the review that "the snapshots of various elements of Franky’s rotagonistlife are intensely felt and authentic, but they are not always cohesive, and a rather diffident and wafty score fails to tie the disparate elements together." In concluding, Ide praised Vicky Knight stating, "Knight is a compelling and fiercely persuasive performer."

Accolades

References

External links

* * {{IMDb title
''Silver Haze''
at Berlinale 2023 films 2023 drama films 2023 LGBT-related films 2020s English-language films 2020s British films LGBT-related drama films British LGBT-related films Dutch LGBT-related films Dutch drama films