UK production house Film and Music Entertainment (F&ME) is to produce Street Kids United, veteran filmmaker Tim Pritchard’s feature documentary about a group of British and African kids preparing for next year’s Street Child World Cup in South Africa. The street tournament will precede by a few weeks the World Cup proper, also to be held in South Africa. Financing for the film is at an early stage, but is expected to be closed by the end of January. It is expected that the film will be delivered in time for summer 2010.
“Playing football for their countries can give back some innocence to a group of young people deprived of a childhood, and help restore pride,” commented producer and writer Sandy Markwick on the eve of IDFA. “Meeting children from different continents and sharing experiences will empower them as they come to understand that they are not alone. Street Kids United will engage and uplift as the children grow in confidence to express themselves.”
“We always try to have a mixed portfolio of projects,” added F&ME’s Samantha Taylor. “And feature documentaries are becoming a key part of our line up. In Street Kids United, Tim and Sandy are well positioned to show not only an examination of child poverty. Instead, the film will take victims and show how a football tournament can empower them, on and off the field. The Street Child World Cup will be more than a football tournament. It will celebrate street children’s potential and give them an opportunity to tell their stories.”
In 2007, Taylor pitched the feature doc Turtle: the Incredible Journey at the IDFA Forum. The film was subsequently pre-sold to Germany, Austria, Spain, Portugal and Switzerland and saw a 100-print German release through 20th Century Fox in October 2009. The film was also released widely across Austria through Filmladen, Italy (Brave Films), the Netherlands (Independent), Spain (Karma) and Belgium (Kinepolis). Switzerland’s Ascot Elite rolled out the film on 20 prints. Following last week’s AFM, Taylor is confident that a US deal is in the offing. She also confirmed that plans to produce a 3D-version of the film are at an advance stage.
Nick Cunningham