Prestigious festival slots for Brian and Charles and Good Luck to You, Leo Grand

David Earl’s film Brian and Charles and the first movie to be written by comedian Katy Brand have been accepted for the prestigious Sundance film festival.

Brand wrote the screenplay for Good Luck to You, Leo Grand, which will receive its world premiere at the influential Utah event next month.

Described as a ‘charming, intimate comedy about genuine human connections, sex positivity, and female pleasure’, the film stars Emma Thompson as a widowed, retired teacher determined to experience good sex for the first time.

Also screening as part of Sundance’s main feature programme is Earl’s dark comedy, in which lonely outsider Brian creates a robot companion from spare washing machine parts.

Earl – known for his appearances on Ricky Gervais projects such as After Life – wrote the script with Chris Hayward, who plays Charles. The lead character is based on Earl’s stand-up alter-ego Brian Gittins.

It is feature directorial debut of Jim Archer, whose credits include BBC comedy The Young Offenders, while other cast members are Lynn Hunter, Louise Brealey, Jamie Michie and Nina Sosanya. It started life as a self-funded short, with the feature-length version shot in North Wales last December, having been delayed by the pandemic.

Also being unveiled at Sundance is We Need To Talk About Cosby, a documentary about the downfall of the star directed by comedian W. Kamau Bell.

The film features interviews with those who spoke out against Bill Cosby, and is described as ‘a powerful and timely reckoning destined to be widely discussed for how it urges audiences to reconsider not only what they know about Cosby but also about the culture that produced and celebrated him’.

Am I OK?, the directorial debut of comic Tig Notaro and her wife Stephanie Allynne is also part of the feature-film programme. It is a coming-out relationship that stars Dakota Johnson and Sonoya Mizuno

Other films being screened at Sundance include Living, starring Bill Nighy as a  1950s civil servant struggling with a life-threatening diagnosis; Fresh starring Daisy Edgar-Jones and  Jesse Eisenberg’s  directorial debut  When You Finish Saving the World.

Sundance takes place from January 20 to 30, and individual tickets go on sale on January 6.

• Brian and Charles premiers on January 23 and can be viewed online on January 24 and 26 at 3pm UK time.
• Good Luck to You, Leo Grand premieres on January 22 and  can be viewed online on January 24 at 3am and January 25 at 3pm UK time.

Published: 13 Dec 2021