Enys Men premieres in Cannes

Enys Men, the latest feature film to be written and directed by Falmouth University’s Distinguished Professor Mark Jenkin, premiered in Cannes this week as part of the Cannes International Film Festival’s prestigious Director’s Fortnight. 

Enys Men, or ‘Stone Island’ in the Cornish language, is set in 1973 on an uninhabited island off the Cornish coast. There, a wildlife volunteer – played by Mary Woodvine – descends into a metaphysical journey that challenges her grip on reality and pushes her into a living nightmare.

The film was shot on a 16mm colour negative using the same processes of post sync sound and the same 1970s clockwork Bolex camera Mark had used on the BAFTA winning “Bait”, in order to convey the feeling of “discovering a reel of never before seen celluloid unspooling in a desolate haunted movie palace”.

The film reunites Bait’s Mary Woodvine and Edward Rowe in lead roles. Enys Men was produced by Falmouth Lecturer Denzil Monk’s Cornish-based production company Bosena Films, and had a crew and with a crew partly drawn from student trainees, a number of Falmouth University graduates and staff from Falmouth University’s School of Film & Television. There was further Falmouth involvement, with Senior Lecturer in Graphic Design, Dion Star, designing the film's poster.

Johnny Fewings serves as executive producer. Film4 co-financed the film, with Ben Coren and Lauren Dark serving as executive producers and Kingsley Marshall, Head of Film & Television at Falmouth University, serving as executive producer for Falmouth University’s Sound/Image Cinema Lab. The sound mix was completed in the School of Film & Television in November 2021, by Technical Tutor Richard Butler.
 

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