Archipelago director Joanna Hogg has lined up quite the team to work on her next film, an ambitious two-part production called The Souvenir. Not only does she have Robert Pattinson, Tom Burke, Richard Ayoade and Ariane Labed in front of the camera, Martin Scorsese has agreed to be the movie's executive producer.
The romantic mystery finds a young female film student – that role has yet to be cast – who finds herself wrapped up in her fist serious love affair, but must distinguish between fact and fiction around this complicated, untrustworthy man (Burke).
Hogg's plan is for the story to span the 1980s, and will kick off shooting the first film this summer, with the second starting production next year. Pattinson is the leading man for that one.
"This story has been in my head for a few years. After Exhibition, I talked to Martin about what I should do next. I had two ideas: one was a ghost story. The other was this one," Hogg tells Screen International. "I start from autobiography. When I investigate a story I realize what I don’t remember and the demands of fiction take over: that’s the fun part. Reality and fiction are so jumbled up. That blurring is partly what I’m exploring in this story."
Originally developed with the BFI and with the backing of BBC Films, this looks to be the biggest movie for Hogg yet. Though we have bad news for fans of Tom Hiddleston, who has appeared in her other dramas – he's not currently part of this one, but has plans to work on others in the future.