By far one of the most prolific people working in film at the moment, James Franco is one of those people who seems to love delving into everything he can, working as a writer, director, and actor, as well as a producer and novelist, to name just two other strings in his bow.
One of his many upcoming projects, Cherry, is debuting at the Berlin Film Festival this month, and the first images from the film have surfaced over at the festival’s website (with thanks to The Playlist for the heads up).
Author Stephen Elliott makes his directorial and co-writing debut on this, with adult film star/NYU writer graduate Lorelei Lee writing the script with him.
“Eighteen-year-old Angelina works at a launderette and is determined to make something of her life. After earning a bit of cash posing for nude photos she uses the money to escape her white trash background and dysfunctional family and run off to San Francisco with her best pal. After several jobs she gradually drifts into San Francisco’s porn industry where, using the moniker Cherry, her naïve yet sexy aura soon brings her success and the opportunity to explore her own sexuality. This self-confident young woman also has to cope with the many prejudices that exist for someone in her line of work; a lawyer who wants to ‘save’ her turns out to have problems with addiction. Finally, she finds an understanding friend and partner in her director, who has similar problems with her own lover. Before long, Angelina decides to try her hand at directing her own porn film.
In his cinematic debut, director Stephen Elliott’s creates a portrait of a young woman in search of herself and her place in the world that is devoid of false morality and voyeurism and approaches its myth-laden topic of porn with a gaze that is fresh and dispassionate.”
Ashley Hinshaw, who can currently be seen in Chronicle which came out this week, stars in the lead as Angelina, with Franco taking the role of the cocaine-addicted lawyer. Heather Graham stars as an adult film star-turned-director, with Lili Taylor playing Hinshaw’s mother, and Dev Patel, of Slumdog Millionaire fame, plays the young girl’s best friend.
The film makes it debut at Berlin on 14th February, playing a further five dates until the festival’s last night on 19th this month, and it will hopefully be picked up for distribution not long after that. So with a bit of luck, we’ll have more to bring you on a release date soon. For now, here are the first images from the film to enjoy.
