Against all odds a low budget feature film, ‘sleep furiously’ - which was part-funded by AHRC through the Research Leave Scheme - is going on general release in UK from May 29th. In London it is opening in 5 cinemas: Curzon Soho, Gate Notting Hill, Apollo Piccadilly Circus, The Phoenix Finchley and Brixton Ritzy.
‘sleep furiously’ premiered in the UK at the 2008 Edinburgh International Film Festival and had its European premiere at The Locarno International Film Festival where it was nominated for the coveted Golden Leopard and won a special Youth Jury Prize. The film maker Gideon Koppel is a lecturer in the department of Media Arts at Royal Holloway, University of London – this film is part of his current research into post-humanist themes and new narrative forms. In 2006 he received an AHRC Research Leave Award to pursue a project then titled ‘The Library Van’. The primary output of that research project was the film ‘sleep furiously’.
The film is set in a small farming community in mid Wales. It centres on the monthly visits of the mobile library van which travels from farm to farm, collecting and delivering books. This van becomes both literally and metaphorically a vehicle of stories – stories which take us on a poetic and profound journey into a world of endings and beginnings; a world of stuffed owls, sheep and fire.
‘sleep furiously’ has attracted praise from a wide range of critics and filmmakers including Alex Cox who wrote in ‘Film Comment’: “The film is visually remarkable... what could be bleak in another film is infinitely beautiful here... and what might otherwise seem hopeless is redeemed and made marvellous... . 'sleep furiously' is the least anthropocentric film I've ever seen.’’ Jonathan Romney of the Independent called the film ‘sublime’, while the novelist John Banville wrote of the film in ‘Sight and Sound’ as “…a mutedly gorgeous, moving and deeply poetic work of art… sleep furiously is, simply, a masterpiece” – a sentiment echoed in Mark Ford’s article in The Guardian which describes it as “…an exquisite and moving meditation.’
Looking forward to the film’s release, Gideon Koppel said: “I am very happy with how ‘sleep furiously’ has found its way into the public arena. Perhaps the most gratifying aspect of this for me is to discover that even in the polemical cultural climate we live in, there are possibilities for the maverick and lyrical to emerge. It should not be forgotten that the film is part of my academic research and I am very grateful to both Royal Holloway and the AHRC for their support of my work. Above all I was very fortunate to have an opportunity to work with Margaret Matheson - one the most experienced and dynamic film producers working in the UK – and the Film Agency for Wales, who were the main financiers of the film.’
Read the review of the film on the Sight and Sounds website.