Archipelago

If UNRELATED surfaced as a tremendous surprise at London Film Festival in 2007, it was a very different matter when ARCHIPELAGO appeared there three years later shortly after a world premiere in Pusan, South Korea. Would Hogg suffer from the dreaded “sophomore slump”, struggling to cope with the weight of expectation now focussed on her follow-up to such a well-received debut? We need not have worried: ARCHIPELAGO quickly confirmed Hogg’s status among the pre-eminent writer-directors of her generation, not just in terms of the United Kingdom but Europe too. Taking its title from a slightly arcane, Greek-derived English term for “an extensive group of islands”, ARCHIPELAGO refers – on one level – to the Scilly Isles off England’s south-west Cornish coast. To windswept Tresco come a middle-aged, upper-middle-class mother and her grown-up children. They plan to stay for a week in a rented holiday home, hiring a young cook to act as temporary servant. The slightly neurotic mother takes painting lessons from a local artist, impatiently awaiting the arrival of her husband who’s tied up with work back in London – and as the hours and days tick by, family frictions boil angrily towards the surface. A stark, stunning, claustrophobic evocation of “stormy weather” in both meteorological and emotional terms, ARCHIPELAGO ranks high among recent examples of ensemble acting: Hogg elicits uniformly terrific performances from professionals and non-pros alike. Excruciating, hilarious and moving by turns, it’s the immensely accomplished work of a mature artist in absolute control of her tonal palette. (Neil Young)

Director's Biography
Born in London in 1960, Joanna Hogg resides and works in the United Kingdom’s capital. She studied at the National Film & Television School in Buckinghamshire, where her graduation film, CAPRICE (1986), starred “Matilda” (a.k.a. Tilda) Swinton in a very early screen appearance for the future Oscar-winner. Hogg also worked in photography, experimental film and music video, and her television work in the 1990s included episodes of the popular series LONDON'S BURNING, CASUALTY and LONDON BRIDGE, plus the stand-alone EASTENDERS special DOT'S STORY (2003). In 2007, her debut feature UNRELATED (2007), set in Tuscany and featuring Tom Hiddleston in his big-screen debut, premiered at the London Film Festival, winning the international critics' FIPRESCI award. Her 2010 follow-up ARCHIPELAGO, set on the Scilly Isles off the Cornish coast, received three nominations - Best Film, Best Screenplay and Best Actor (Hiddleston) – at the Evening Standard British Film Awards. In 2013, her third film EXHIBITION (2013) competed for the Golden Leopard at Locarno, and her work was showcased in the Emerging Artist sidebar of the 51st New York Film Festival.
Tribute 2014
Joanna Hogg
Great Britain 2010
color
114 minutes
OV
Screenplay Joanna Hogg
Cinematography Ed Rutherford
Editing Helle Le Fevre
Sound/Sounddesign Jovan Ajder
Music Jovan Ajder
With Christopher Baker, Kate Fahy, Tom Hiddleston, Lydia Leonard, Amy Lloyd
Production
Wild Horses Film Company 19A King Henry's Road London NW3 3QP Great Britain T +44 20 3598 1007 info@wildhorsesfilms.com www.wildhorsesfilms.com