NEWS
mipcom
Kiefer’s call for calm
G
OLDEN Globe and Emmy Award-winning actor Kiefer Sutherland is in Cannes to unveil his latest TV drama to the international markets. The political drama, Designated Survivor, features Sutherland as a relatively unknown junior minister, Tom Kirkman, who is catapulted into the White House when a freak accident kills the rest of the cabinet. Thrust into the presidency well before his time, Kirkman faces the overwhelming task and historic opportunity to rebuild the government untainted by the machinations and associations of the established politicians who have preceded him. Speaking to MIPCOM News ahead of a Media Mastermind Keynote session later today, in which he will introduce the show to the market, Sutherland said the show’s key potential was as a “piece of social commentary” and a discussion of the state of politics around the world. He said: “It’s a call for calm through some of the hysteria at the moment — for the left and the right to have informed discussions from both perspectives. Because the show is building up the government from the ground up, it’s set up for us to have these discussions.” Designated Survivor, which made its debut on ABC in the US last month, is produced by The Mark Gordon Company and created by David Guggenheim. Entertainment One is distributing the show to the international markets.
Kiefer Sutherland
A tale of love and identity
NEW six-part drama Guerrilla has politics, history and a brave storyline that tackles the big questions of injustice, inequality and identity. “But the most important thing is that it’s a love story between two characters who are pushed up against a situation that questions their very commitment to each other,” said Freida Pinto (Slumdog Millionaire), who is in Cannes with co-star Babou Ceesay (Free Fire) to promote the Fifty Fathoms and ABC Signature co-production for Sky Atlantic in the UK and Showtime in the US. “They love each other deeply, but there’s no
question that what happens ravages bits and pieces of their relationship.” Set in the UK in the politically charged Seventies, Guerrilla’s storyline centres on Jas (Pinto) and Marcus Ceesay), who find themselves making the leap from activism to radical militancy when they liberate a political prisoner. Predominantly written and executive-produced by Academy Award-winner John Ridley, it also stars Idris Elba. It is distributed outside the UK and North America by Endemol Shine International. “Guerrilla is about the universal themes of love and identity,”
Pinto said. “Its subject matter is also very topical. In the US, you have Black Lives Matter but, in the UK, racial inequality hasn’t been spoken about so openly — and then Brexit happened and revealed the anti-immigration sentiment bubbling under the surface.” Ceesay said he was attracted to the role of Marcus by the character’s journey of selfdiscovery: “Unlike the Windrush generation, he was born in England. So he grows up feeling he belongs, but then begins to question it. That’s still relevant today.”
28
Freida Pinto