“Bird,” Andrea Arnold‘s first narrative feature in almost a decade, has been picked up by Cornerstone Films with the company set to launch the feature at the upcoming European Film Market in Berlin.
Little is known about the film, except that it was shot in the U.K. around the Kent area last summer and, like much of Arnold’s work, examines life on the fringes of society. It also stars two of the buzziest actors on the circuit: Barry Keoghan and Franz Rogowski.
Keoghan is currently on a phenomenal run that began with his BAFTA-winning and Oscar-nominated supporting role in “The Banshees of Inisherin” and has continued with a BAFTA-nominated lead turn in Emerald Fennell’s “Saltburn” as well as a major part in the recently launched Apple TV+ drama “Masters of the Air.” He reportedly joined “Bird” after leaving the cast of Ridley Scott’s upcoming “Gladiator” sequel, something that should draw added interest to the project.
Rogowski, meanwhile, has seen his star rise dramatically over the last year thanks to acclaimed roles in “Disco Boy,” “Lubo” and Ira Sachs’ “Passages,” the latter marking his first major English-language performance. Alongside “Bird,” he also has A24’s “Wizards!” alongside Pete Davidson and Naomi Scott, and Terrence Malick’s star-studded biblical epic “The Way of the Wind” coming up.
For Arnold, whose unique brand of social realism has earned her a cult following, “Bird” sees her return to dramatic features for the first time since 2016’s Cannes-bowing “American Honey” starring Shia LaBeouf and Sasha Lane (in her debut role). Her last film was the 2021 documentary “Cow,” chronicling the life of a dairy cow.
Financiers of “Bird” include BBC Film, BFI, Pinky Promise, FirstGen and Access.