Press release (Pdf)

This marks the fifth year that the Europa Cinemas Label will be awarded at Cannes, and complements the Labels awarded at the Panorama section in Berlin, the Venice Days section of the Mostra del Cinema, and Karlovy Vary.

Control will now receive the invaluable support of extended theatrical exposure and additional promotion from the Europa Cinemas network.

The Directors´ Fortnight Europa Cinemas Label jury consisted of Jean Chenu (Exhibitor, Ciné Mazarin, Aix en Provence, France); Pekka Lanerva (Acquisition Manager, Cinema Mondo, Finland); Roland Perrière (Exhibitor, Scala Cinema, Geneva, Switzerland) and Anne Vervier (Education Officer at Le Parc/Churchill cinemas in Liège, Belgium).

The jury issued the following statement about the winning film: “This is a very impressive and assured debut from a photographer renowned for his images of rock music´s world, but he never allows the look of the film, beautiful though it is, to detract from the character development. The performances are all excellent, not just the leading characters. Thanks to the film, the dramatic story of Ian Curtis and Joy Division will strike a real chord with audiences around Europe 20 years later, and not just with connoisseurs and music lovers.”

Sold internationally by Becker International (www.beckerinternational.com.au), Control stars Sam Riley, Samantha Morton, Craig Parkinson and Alexandra Maria Lara. The film is directed by Anton Corbijn from a screenplay by Matt Greenhalgh, adapted from Deborah Curtis´ book “Touching from a Distance”. The producers are Orian Williams, Anton Corbijn and Todd Eckert.

Control is the story of Ian Curtis, lead singer of the now-legendary band Joy Division, who, in 1980, killed himself at the age of 23. Ian is a complex character of both intensity and contrast. Marrying at 19, his relationship with his wife Debbie is remarkable in its normalcy - a picture of the young Northern couple trying to create a life. Ian works in the Employment Exchange and Debbie is a homemaker. However, Ian´s love of music and literature defines his life. We see the drive of the man and, as a result, Joy Division begin to succeed. As the band´s profile grows, Ian is diagnosed with epilepsy, leaving him unsure of himself and his future. While dedicated to his wife and baby daughter, Ian yearns for real compatibility, which he finds in the form of a bright young journalist. The ensuing conflict between responsibility and desire, coupled with the increasing responsibilities of the band, the toll of performance and epileptic fits, renders Ian incapable of dealing with the world, and he chooses what, for him, seems the only way out.


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Previous 2007 winner of the Europa Cinemas Label:

Panorama, Berlinale: El Camino de los Ingleses (Summer Rain)