Seven-time Oscar nominee Mike Leigh has reteamed with British actor Marianne Jean-Baptiste, who led his 1996 Oscar-nominated Secrets & Lies, on his latest feature, Hard Truths. We can share a first look at the feature above.
We first broke news of the project, which was shot in London, last May. Hard Truths is described as a movie set in the “contemporary world” with a plot said to be a “tough but compassionate intimate study of family life.”
The film also stars Michele Austin and is a Thin Man Films and The Mediapro Studio co-production, co-financed by Film4 in association with Creativity Media. Bleecker Street will release the film theatrically in the US later this year, with Studiocanal releasing in the UK and Cornerstone Films handling international sales. The film will be part of the company’s upcoming European Film Market slate.
Leigh was joined behind the camera by regular crew members, including producer Georgina Lowe, cinematographer Dick Pope, costume designer Jacqueline Durran, production designer Suzie Davis, composer Gary Yershon and casting director Nina Gold. Editor Tania Reddin and make-up and hair designer Nora Robertson are joining a Mike Leigh production for the first time.
Hard Truths marks Leigh’s first contemporary set film in over a decade. His last two features, Mr.Turner and Peterloo, were period dramas. Jean-Baptiste was Oscar, BAFTA, and Golden Globe-nominated for her role in Leigh’s Secrets & Lies. She was last seen in Rumble Through the Dark, alongside Aaron Eckhart and Bella Thorne, and Jeymes Samuels’ biblical drama The Book Of Clarence.