Daniel Bekerman, producer of The Apprentice, which will premiere in competition in Cannes, has announced his next feature The Eden Express, from writer-director Daniel Cockburn (You Are Here). Based on true events that explore life with mental illness, the film will be produced by Daniel Bekerman, Chris Yurkovich and Christina Wood under the Good Question Media banner in association with Scythia Films. Jordan Hart will be executive producing for Good Question Media. The film will be a Canada-UK co-production with John Archer and Carolynne Sinclair Kidd producing for Scotland’s Hopscotch Films. LevelK is representing the global sales and Mongrel Media will distribute the film in Canada. Stephen Fry will serve as an executive producer. Casting is currently underway.
Based on the memoir of the same title by Mark Vonnegut (son of Kurt Vonnegut), The Eden Express depicts Mark’s 1970 quest alongside his girlfriend Virge, leaving his famous father’s house in Nixon’s America to go west in search of a better way of life on a British Columbia commune – ‘Eden’ on earth. However, as this new utopia comes into focus, Mark starts to hear voices and see wild visions that give him ominous instructions, marking the start of his journey with bipolar disorder.
Producer Daniel Bekerman said, “A core endeavour in the production of The Eden Express is to redefine the depiction of mental health on screen. We hope to achieve this by bringing the audience as close as possible to Mark’s authentic point of view – to build a robust, empathetic relationship to his experience.”
Executive producer Stephen Fry said, “I was thrilled to read a screenplay that was charming, funny and adventurous, but also penetrating and compelling in its graphic depictions of the startling, vivid and overpowering directions the mind can take. So thrilled in fact that I happily agreed to come on board as an executive producer.”
Daniel Cockburn is a Canadian filmmaker and artist based in Glasgow who makes work at the intersection of art and cinema. Mixing humor, cinephilia, and mind-bending science-fiction scenarios, his film and live performance work have been compared to Philip K. Dick and Charlie Kaufman and have drawn praise from filmmakers such as Atom Egoyan. Cockburn’s debut feature You Are Here (2010) premiered at Locarno before traveling to Toronto, Rotterdam, and 40 other festivals, winning the main award at European Media Art Festival for “trend-setting in media art” as well as the Toronto Film Critics Association Jay Scott Award for Best First Feature.
