On the Road

‘You can join us if you think you're wild
You can join us if you're a feral child
Our love is cool’
Wolf Alice – Freazy

They took their band name from an Angela Carter short story. In the summer of 2015, Ellie Rowsell, Joff Oddie, Joel Amey and Theo Ellis take their band Wolf Alice on tour through Great Britain and Ireland, to promote their seductive, darkly euphoric debut album ‘My Love is Cool’ – and find themselves confronted by sudden fame. Director Michael Winterbottom accompanies the band and observes the realities of life on tour from the perspective of a new member of the crew: from the energetic interplay between the band and its young audience and the moments of ecstasy on stage, to the exhaustion backstage. In time, the relationships between the travellers are also brought to light – with a few surprising turns.
by Michael Winterbottom
with Ellie Rowsell, Joff Oddie, Theo Ellis, Joel Amey, Leah Harvey, James McArdle, Paul Popplewell, Jamie Quinn, Shirley Henderson
United Kingdom 2016 English 121’ Colour Documentary form

With

  • Ellie Rowsell
  • Joff Oddie
  • Theo Ellis
  • Joel Amey
  • Leah Harvey (Estelle)
  • James McArdle (Joe)
  • Paul Popplewell (Smiley)
  • Jamie Quinn (Gary)
  • Shirley Henderson (Joe's Mum)

Crew

Written and Directed by Michael Winterbottom
Cinematography James Clarke
Editing Marc Richardson
Casting Julie Harkin
Producers Melissa Parmenter, Anthony Wilcox
Executive Producers Julian Bird, Abi Gadsby, Declan Reddington

World sales

Independent Film Sales

Produced by

Revolution Films

Michael Winterbottom

Born in Blackburn, UK in 1961, after taking a degree in English at Oxford University he studied film and television in Bristol and London and then worked on numerous TV productions. His work first featured in the Berlinale in 1995 when Butterfly Kiss screened in the Competition. In 2003 he won the Golden Bear for In This World; in 2006 he and co-director Mat Whitecross won the Silver Bear for Best Director with The Road to Guantanamo. He was most recently at the Berlinale in 2013 with The Look of Love.

Filmography (selection)

1994 Butterfly Kiss 1996 Jude 1997 Welcome to Sarajevo 1998 I Want You 1999 Wonderland · With or Without You 2000 The Claim 2002 24 Hour Party People · In This World 2003 Code 46 2004 9 Songs · A Cock and Bull Story 2006 The Road to Guantanamo; Co-director: Mat Whitecross 2008 Genova 2009 The Shock Doctrine; documentary film, Co-director: Mat Whitecross 2010 The Killer Inside Me · The Trip 2011 Trishna 2012 The Look of Love 2016 On the Road

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2017