Project Detail

New Year's Day

Synopsis

Jake and Steven are 16 and living in a small town on the South coast. It's the end of Christmas term and they're excited about the skiing holiday they're about to go on. But it's not just the holiday, it's everything. 16 going on 17 is a great age to be, and Jake and Steven know that the next year is going to be the best ever, with better parties, more laughs, even less parental control and all the girls a year older and maybe this year they'll make good promises.


So Jake, Steve and their classmates go with Mr. Diamond, their English teacher, to France to ski. One of their friends, Heather, has brought along a videocam and is making a documentary about them all, what they want, who they want, ambitions and fear, that kind of thing. Day one they hit the official slopes but the next days it's off-piste. The eleven friends lark about for Heather's camera when BANG! The avalanche hits and they're all swept away on a sea of snow.


Jake wakes up buried in a snow-cave next to Steven. He thinks they're both goners but next time he wakes up it's hospital, rescued. He finds Steven in a nearby bed. Everyone is dead, all of them, Heather, Mr. Diamond, everyone . . .


Back home it's a huge tragic news story. Jake and Steven fly back to their families and a grieving town with the coffins of their friends on the plane with them. As the town, school and families struggle to come to terms with it, Jake and Steven are lost, separated from everything, unable to understand.


They meet and talk. Why didn't we die too? What should we do? What's the point? They stand on a high cliff and look down. Should they jump? No. They decide they'll make a book and fill it with a series of tasks, not important tasks, just things they want to do before they die. And they'll spend the year doing them . . .

Details

Year
2000
Type of project
Features
Running time
100 mins
Format
35mm Fuji
Director
Suri Krishnamma
Producer
David Forrest, Beau Rogers
Editor
Adam Ross
Screenwriter
Ralph Brown
Director of Photography
John De Borman
Principal cast
Andrew Lee Potts, Bobby Barry, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Jacqueline Bisset

Genre

Categories

Production Status

Production Company

Alchymie 93/95 Wardour Street London W1V 3TE Tel: 020 7851 7000 Fax: 020 7851 7010

Sales Company

The Works 4 Great Portland Street London W1W 8QJ tel 020 7612 1080 fax 020 7612 1081

Page updates

This page was last updated on 12th May 2025. Please let us know if we need to make any amendments or request edit access by clicking below.

See also

You may also be interested in other relevant projects in the database.

Lord of the Flies Lord of the Flies

Director: Marc Munden

Year: 2026

Adapted from the 1954 novel by William Golding, the story of a group of young schoolboys who find themselves stranded on a Pacific island following a deadly plane crash during a nuclear war. In an attempt to remain civil, the boys organise themselves, led by Ralph and supported by the group’s intellectual, Piggy. But as the youngest members begin to share sightings of a terrifying beast, hunter Jack begins to wrestle for leadership. Jack Thorne’s adaptation marks the first time 'Lord of the Flies' has been brought to television. Faithful to the original novel, the series delves further into the book’s emotive themes: human nature, the loss of innocence and boyhood masculinity. Each of the four episodes is titled after a character at the core of the story – Ralph, Piggy, Simon and Jack – offering a subtly different perspective on the boys’ collective plight and manner in which they cope with their predicament. Official Selection Berlin International Film Festival 2026 - Berlinale Special Series - International premiere

Yön Lapsi (Nightborn) Yön Lapsi (Nightborn)

Director: Hanna Bergholm

Year: 2026

With dreams of starting a perfect family, Saga and her British husband Jon move to the isolated house deep in the Finnish forest where Saga spent much of her childhood. But as soon as their baby is born, despite the reassurances of everyone around her, Saga knows something is terribly wrong. As their marriage starts to crack and Jon struggles to support his wife, only Saga suspects the disturbing truth about their newborn child. Official Selection Berlin International Film Festival 2026 - Competition - World premiere

Mint Mint

Director: Charlotte Regan

Year: 2026

Twenty-two-year-old Shannon is the daughter of the dominant crime family in the area. Standing in the shadow of her father Dylan, she is desperately searching for romance and falls head over heels for Arran, a member of a rival crime family which has recently arrived in town. They develop a deep bond that changes both their lives for good, but not everyone around them is willing to accept it. While Shannon and Arran are pursuing their forbidden love, elsewhere things are imploding for Shannon’s family. However, rather than focusing on the crime world or the politics of succession, our gaze is directed towards the distinct emotional worlds of Shannon’s family – her parents Dylan and Cat, her older brother Luke and her indomitable grandma Ollie. Official Selection Berlin International Film Festival 2026 - Berlinale Special Series - World premiere