UK Film Council Funds New Films From Oliver Hirschbiegel, Nick Hornby, Andrea Arnold And Man On Wire Director James Marsh

Making a small film in the US means raising money by whatever means are necessary, but other countries actually support the arts. Crazy idea, right? I'm sure there are issues with how public arts funding is doled out in the UK, but I love the fact that small films from proven talent can get some public money to help them along. The UK Film Council recently released information on what films are receiving grants from the council this year, and there are some interesting details in the list.

Some of the projects — and the ones getting the most funding — are ones we already knew about, like Joe Cornish's Attack the Block and Mike Leigh's Another Year. But in the list of funded films there are also quite a few new projects or things that we've only heard rumblings about. Much more detail after the break.

Much of the new stuff is, appropriately, from the 'in development' section of the funding list. Here are a few highlights:

Oliver Hirschbiegel (Downfall) is working on Corsica 72 with writers Neil Purvis and Robert Wade. The script by the Casino Royale writers placed high on the Brit List, and is a Mafia tale.Andrea Arnold (Fish Tank, Red Road) is working on an original idea called The Cleaner. First we've heard of this one, but it is definitely of interest. Arnold is also directing the new version of Wuthering Heights.Man on Wire director James Marsh has two films going. With Man on Wire producer Simon Chinn he's got Project Nim, announced late last year, which is a 'historical documentary' seemingly based on a study that taught sign language to a chimp named Nim. And there's Strangers, written by Conor McPherson, is a ghost story based on the novel of the same name by Taichi Yamada. The novel (which has been previously filmed in Japan) is about a divorced man who begins an affair with a young neighbor, before meeting a couple that seems to be a younger version of his own parents, after which strange things begin to happen.Nick Hornby and Giles Smith are co-writing an animated film called The Babymakers. Announced last year, the film is a failmy film about how babies are made, in which "the little creatures inside the body that put the components of a baby together" get thrown into panic when one of them, Toe, disappears. An Education producers Finola Dwyer and Amanda Posey are producing; graphic design house Airside will work on the visual design.  [Details via The Guardian]

[UK Film Council, via The Playlist]