Synopsis

Join Birds’ Eye View for the second film in their new 4 film, 5-city Reclaim The Frame project; a mission to grow ever-greater audiences for films by women and build a more balanced film future.

British writer-director Deborah Haywood’s first feature Pin Cushion tells the story of a unique mother-daughter duo: two glittering misfits who are knitted together in a relationship that is as kitsch and comforting as it is suffocating.

Together, Iona (played with startling screen presence from newcomer Lily Newmark) and her eccentric single mum Lyn (Joanna Scanlan on top form) move to a new town in the Midlands. Iona is determined to reinvent herself at school and quickly jumps through hoops to befriend the popular girls. Meanwhile, Lyn, used to being her daughter’s best friend, feels left out and attempts to woo their neighbour Belinda by lending her a ladder. But Belinda really isn’t interested in making new friends…

As the fragile veneer of forced friendship slips, both Lyn and Iona find themselves seeking fantastical and fabricated alternative realities. In her first feature, Haywood turns the coming of age story upside down with dark and unexpected twists. Worlds that glitter and twinkle on the outside often mask the saddest truths.

Having opened the acclaimed Critics’ Week programme at Venice before heading over to Rotterdam International Film Festival, BIFA-nominated Haywood’s Pin Cushion has already been praised to match the wicked and thought-provoking works of Todd Solondz.

See it with Birds’ Eye View and join our audience discussion after with special guests speakers to be announced soon.

• Official Selection Venice Film Festival Critics’ Week 2017 – Opening Night Gala – World premiere
• Official Selection Rotterdam International Film Festival 2018

Cast & Crew

Director: Deborah Haywood (1st Feature)
Producer: Gavin Humphries, Maggie Monteith
Executive Producer: Josephine Rose, Chis Reed, Lizzie Francke
Screenwriter: Deborah Haywood
Director of Photography:Nicola Daley
Production Designer: Francesca Massariol
Music: Natalie Holt

Principal Cast: Lily Newmark, Joanna Scanlan, Loris Scarpa, Sacha Cordy-Nice, Bethany Antonia

Trailer