March really is a great month for independent film if you are a fan of this genre, as there are a whole host of films set to hit the big screen.
X+Y
We have already been treated to some indie gems so far in 2015, and there are more on the horizon over the next few weeks. What will you be watching? We take a look at some of the indie movies that you cannot afford to miss.
- X+Y - released 13th March
X+Y hits the big screen on Friday and sees Morgan Matthews make away from documentary film to make his live action debut. The movie is inspired by documentary Beautiful Young Minds and sees him reunite with writer James Graham.
Matthews has brought together a terrific cast that includes Asa Butterfield, Sally Hawkins and Rafe Spall, in a movie that explores the autistic spectrum as well as looking at love and relationships.
The movie follows Nathan (Butterfield); a young maths genius sees logic thwarted by one truly baffling equation: love. Diagnosed at an early age as being on the autistic spectrum, struggles when it comes to building relationships with other people, not least with his mother, Julie (Hawkins).
X+Y is the uplifting and inspiring story of a teenager's struggle to make sense of the world around him. This is not only one of the indie movies to watch out for this month, but it is also one of the British movies that are not to be missed.
The movie premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival last year, before going on to be well received at the London Film Festival.
- Mommy - released 20th March
Xavier Dolan has been behind films such as Tom at the Farm and Laurence Anyways during his directing career but now he is set to return with his new film project Mommy.
Dolan is back in the director's chair and on writing duties with this new film, which has already enjoyed critical and festival success over the last year.
Mommy follows a mother and her son as they struggle with his ADHD and see Anne Dorval, Suzanne Clément and Antoine Olivier Pilon on the cast list.
A passionate widowed single mom (Dorval) finds herself burdened with the full-time custody of her unpredictable 15-year-old ADHD son (Pilon). As they struggle to make ends meet, Kyla (SClément), the peculiar new neighbour across the street, offers her help.Together, they strive for a new sense of balance.
The movie has already won the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, has gone on to win a string of other awards, and pick up numerous nominations. I am looking forward to seeing what all the fuss is about when it is released next week.
- The Voices - released 20th March
We are going to be seeing plenty of Ryan Reynolds on the big screen this year, and The Voices is one of the projects that we are going to be seeing him star in.
The Voices is a black comedy that mixes elements of crime and thriller and sees Marjane Satrapi back in the director's chair. Satrapi grabbed everyone's attention back in 2007 when she made her directorial debut with Persepolis, before going on to make Chicken with Plums and The Gang of the Jotas.
Now she is back and has brought together a terrific cast that sees Gemma Arterton, Anna Kendrick, and Jacki Weaver star alongside Reynolds - I think this is going to be a role unlike anything that we have seen the actor tackle before.
Jerry (Reynolds) works at a bathtub factory and attempts to walk the straight-and-narrow, in spite of his talking pet dog and cat trying to influence him. When he accidentally kills an attractive woman from accounting (Arterton), he hastily tries to cover his tracks.
But Jerry is beyond the reach of his well-meaning psychiatrist Dr. Warren (Weaver) and Lisa (Kendrick), the only woman he ever truly loved, and spirals into a world of violence where he ultimately finds salvation.
- Sixteen - released 25th March
Another British movie to watch out for this month comes in the form of Sixteen, a film that marks the feature film directorial debut of Rob Brown. Brown is no stranger to the director's chair with shorts such as Echoes and Silent Things under his belt, but now he is making the transition to features for the first time.
Brown has penned the screenplay as well as being in the director's chair and the movie premiered at the 2013 BFI London Film Festival... this month will see it finally hit the big screen.
Roger Jean Nsengiyumva will take on the central role of Jumah in the film, in what is only his second feature film role. He is joined on the cast list by Rachael Stirling, Rosie Day, and Sam Spruell.
Jumah is about to turn 16 and is already in need of a fresh start. Burdened with the shameful legacy of a past as a child soldier in the Congo, he lives with his adoptive mother in east London where he struggles to keep the lid on his history of violence.
One night, enjoying a rare carefree evening out with a new friend, Jumah witnesses something which draws him seemingly inescapably into his old ways. As he and others around him begin to question whether he can ever stop being a soldier, he is set on a path to find out who he truly is.
- The Face of an Angel - released 27th March
Michael Winterbottom is one of the best British directors around, and has already been behind 24 Hour Party People, A Mighty Heart and The Killer Inside Me during his career.
This March he is back with his new film The Face of an Angel. The movie is inspired by the book of the same name Barbie Latza Nadeau, which was inspired by the Amanda Knox and Meredith Kercher cast back in 2007.
Daniel Bruhl has been on the rise in recent years with the likes of Rush and Inglourious Basterds under his belt, and he is set to take on the central role of Thomas. He is joined on the cast list by Kate Beckinsale, Cara Delevingne, and Valerio Mastandrea.
Thomas Lang (Brühl) is a film director who is offered the chance to adapt a book by American journalist Simone Ford (Beckinsale), which recounts the controversial trial of American student Jessica Fuller for the murder of her flatmate Elizabeth Pryce. To help with his research, Simone takes Thomas to Siena, where he is disturbed by the media frenzy that has developed around the case.
After visiting the crime scene, Thomas, who is separated from his wife and daughter, begins to question not only the motives of the people around him, from the financiers of the film to the press corps, but also his own. As Thomas descends into his own personal torment, he is rescued by his friendship with a young, guileless British student, Melanie (Delevingne).
Through Melanie he begins to realise that he no longer wants to make a film about violence and guilt - he wants to make a film about love and innocence. He wants to make a film that will honour the victim, that will focus on the life, the love and the happiness that have been taken from her.
Appropriate Behaviour, Hyena, and Blind are other indie movies not to miss over the next few weeks.