Five Miles Out

Jan 23, 09:24 AM by Kate Taylor

For two years, Comma has been commissioning very short films based on poems that we, and other North West presses, publish. Last autumn we started to step this project up from poem-films to short-story-adaptations (short stories being our real forte as a publisher). The very first of these projects was an adaptation of a short story by previously unpublished Manchester writer, Sarah Tierney, commissioned as part of Comma’s first ‘new writer’ showcase, Bracket (2005). The story was adapted by new director Andrew Haigh and funded by Film 4 and the UK Film Council, through the Cinema Extreme programme.

The resulting film, Five Miles Out stars Dakota Blue Richards, rising British screen talent, and star of The Golden Compass. The story concerns a teenage girl coming to terms with her sister’s battle with life-threatening anorexia whilst on holiday. We’ve just heard that the film has been accepted into this year’s Berlin Film Festival. It will premier in the UK at the Edinburgh Film Festival. For more information about Comma and this film, see our website www.commapress.co.uk.