Peter Strickland
Peter Strickland, director of the acclaimed feature films Berberian Sound Studio & Katalin Varga and winner of this years Best Director BIFA award, will shoot his third feature for UK indie Rook Films.
Berberian was the most successful film at this years BIFA awards picking up three further gongs including Best Actor for star Toby Jones.
The Duke of Burgundy, a dark melodrama, is set to star Chiara D’Anna (Berberian Sound Studio) as an amateur lepidopterist whose wayward desires test the limits of her lover's tolerance. "After damaging my eardrums with too many screams during the Berberian sound mix, I wanted to make something tender and quiet, but also quite intense.
"It's a simple love story about a devoted couple whose intimate needs are rarely in harmony" says Strickland.
The Duke of Burgundy is the first non Ben Wheatley film to be produced by the UK production company. Andy Starke from Rook says "We have a slate of projects with a group of very talented writer directors from around the world. Berberian Sound Studio was my favourite film of 2012 so it’s fantastic to be opening up with Peter’s new film.
"His unique take on genre cinema is a perfect match for Rook and we’re incredibly excited by this project."
The film will shoot in 2013 and is currently being developed with the assistance of the BFI Film Fund, which also developed and backed Strickland’s Berberian Sound Studio.
Rook’s slate of features includes Wheatley’s English Civil War freak out - A Field In England as well as his Cops vs Monsters sci-fi Freakshift and claymation mindmelt: Mega Evil Motherfuckers!, Sidharth Srinivasan’s Varanasi set Indian horror: The Penance and the debut feature by director Jim Hosking - Whitaker - described as "Re-animator meets This is England".
Berberian Sound Studio is released on home video in the UK on Dec 31st by Artificial Eye.