'Bait' Director Mark Jenkin Sets Horror Movie 'Enys Men' With Film4

Jenkin's black-and-white art house hit 'Bait' is up for two BAFTA awards.

Mark Jenkin, a double BAFTA nominee for his acclaimed debut Bait, has set his next project, Enys Men, an ecosophical horror film, with Film4 having come on board as co-financier.

Jenkin will direct from his own script, set on island and about a woman haunted by echoes of both the past and future, with shooting expected to begin in May.

Bait, black-and-white, hand-processed and shot on a vintage 16mm camera, become one of 2019's art house sleeper hits. After bowing at the Berlin International Film Festival it launched to critical acclaim and has so far grossed more than $600,000 following a lengthy run in U.K. cinemas.

Earlier this month, the film — a tense drama set and shot in Jenkin's native Cornwall and following a local fisherman dealing with the gentrification of his village — landed BAFTA nominations for both outstanding British film of the year and outstanding debut by a British writer, director or producer. Other honors include British/Irish film of the year and breakthrough British/Irish filmmaker of the year nominations from the London Critics Circle film awards, and four nominations from last year's British Independent Film Awards, of which it won for breakthrough producer.

Enys Men, also to be shot in Cornwall (the title is Cornish for "stone island"), is being produced by Denzil Monk for Bosena. Johnny Fewings is executive producer with Kate Byers and Linn Waite as associate producers. Film4 will co-finance the film, with senior commissioning executive Lauren Dark overseeing late-stage development and production. Further development and production support come from Sound Image Cinema Lab (Falmouth University).