Previously Unreleased: The Souvenir
There are films that do very well at festivals, that are successful abroad, but are never released in the Netherlands. Eye Filmmuseum have brought a few of these films to Dutch cinemas under the title Previously Unreleased. Also in Rialto.
The Souvenir
London, 1980s: 25-year-old, shy but ambitious film student Julie begins a stormy relationship with slightly older Anthony (Tom Burke). Once he has moved in, he is constantly trying to borrow money from her. Her mother Rosalind and her friends try to warn her, but Julie ignores them. She dives deeper and deeper into this relationship that is as intense as it is destructive.
Writer/director Joanna Hogg herself wrote this dreamlike story about young adulthood and first love and based it on her own experiences as a film student in the 1980s. The entire cast was given the screenplay to read, except for lead actress Honor Swinton Byrne. She had to make do with Hogg's diaries, notes and old scripts, and then improvised her role of Julie. Julie's mother is played by Tilda Swinton, who in real life is the mother of Honor Swinton Byrne. Hoggs and Swinton attended film school at the same time and have been friends ever since.