Tuesday 14 August 2007

Redcar's Regent Cinema to host regional premier of 'Atonement' and rightly so...

(Picture by Colin Crawford)
Working Title and Universal Pictures International UK in association with Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council, Northern Film & Media and BAFTA are pleased to announce the regional premiere of Atonement in Redcar at 7pm on Wednesday, September 5 2007.

Atonement - Joe Wright's spectacular adaptation of Ian McEwan's novel starring Keira Knightly and James McAvoy will receive its regional premiere in north-east coastal town of Redcar.

Director Joe Wright will return to Redcar, where he shot a number of the film's key scenes using 1,000 local extras, to attend the premiere screening which will take place at The Regent Cinema, The Esplanade, Redcar.

On general release from 14 September 2007, Atonement used Redcar's fantastic beach for scenes depicting the evacuation of Dunkirk, with The Regent Cinema, surrounding nature reserve and Corus steelworks also featuring in the movie.

Northern Film & Media, the Regional Screen Agency for the North East of England, worked with Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council and Working Title through its dedicated Location Service to arrange the use of Redcar as a location for Atonement.

Tom Harvey, Chief Executive of Northern Film & Media said: "The entire experience of Atonement has been fantastic for Redcar & Cleveland.

"Securing the regional premiere is a great way to celebrate the release of the film, but the event is also a celebration of the hard work and commitment of the local authority and community who pulled out all of the stops to make this happen in this region. Of course, such commitment to film and TV production pays dividends for communities.

"In the last three years, productions spent an average of £6.9m in the North East of England. This translates to over £19,000 a day being generated by film and TV production in the region."

Based on Ian McEwan's best selling novel. In the summer of 1935, thirteen-year-old Briony Tallis sees her older sister Cecilia strip off her clothes and plunge into the fountain in the garden of their country house.
Watching Cecilia is their housekeeper's son Robbie Turner, a childhood friend. By the end of that day the lives of all three will have been changed forever. Robbie and Cecilia will have crossed a boundary they had never before dared to approach and will have become victims of the younger girl's scheming imagination, and Briony will have committed a dreadful crime, the guilt for which will colour her entire life.

Celebrating the 1940's setting of the film, the red carpet premiere will form the climax of a nostalgic public street celebration to be held during the day on The Esplanade, Redcar.

And that's why the scaffolding is up around the Regent, it must be getting a much needed facelift. Well done to Neil Bates and his family who have put so much love and care into preserving Redcar's last remaining cinema.

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