PRINCIPAL PHOTOGRAPHY COMMENCES IN LONDON ON MOLIFILMS' STYLISH BRITISH ACTION MOVIE “MONTANA” WITH MO ALI AT THE HELM

Contemporary east London is the setting for hot young British director MO ALI’S stylish action movie, “MONTANA” a high octane tale of betrayal, redemption and honour, charting the unlikely bond between a streetwise teenage drugs courier Montana (McKell David) and Dimitrije (Lars Mikkelsen) a Serbian ex-commando who is hell-bent on revenge against Montana’s boss, Lazlo a gangster and drug lord and his nemesis from the Balkan conflict.

Six weeks of principal photography commenced today on locations across London with a cast headed by LARS MIKKELSEN who is currently enjoying success in the Danish crime drama The Killing which is airing on BBC television, BIFA Award-winner ASHLEY WALTERS (Top Boy, Bullet Boy, Sket) and exciting new teen acting talent MCKELL DAVID in the title lead as fourteen year-old Montana.  The top supporting cast line-up includes BAFTA Rising Star-winner ADAM DEACON (Adulthood, Kidulthood, Shank), BRAD MOORE (The Rise aka Wasteland, Best Laid Plans, Up There), ZLATKO BURIC (Pusher, 2012) and MICHELLE FAIRLEY (Game of Thrones, Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows, The Invisible Woman).

Produced by GARETH MAXWELL ROBERTS (The Mortician 3D, Kill Kill Faster Faster) and MARK FOLIGNO (The King’s Speech, Moon) and written by JEREMY SHELDON and PETER LOWE, “MONTANA” is based on an original idea by MO ALI, who made his feature film debut helming “Shank”, which broke opening weekend records for its UK distributor in 2010.  The Daily Telegraph tipped Mo Ali as an emerging filmmaker to watch and described him as “…a walking, talking bag of positive energy”.  

Montana is a street-smart kid trying to stay out of trouble.  Dimitrije is a Balkan assassin who arrives in London hell-bent on bloody vengeance for the murder of his family.  In a chance encounter, Dimitrije saves Montana from a gangland execution; eliminating his would-be murderers with ruthless detachment.  Montana learns that Lazlo the local drug lord is the same man who killed his father.  Eager for revenge, the boy is mentored by Dimitrije  in survival and the dark arts of assassination and in so doing, learns the true meaning of friendship, honour and respect.

The look and feel of “MONTANA” pays homage to Luc Besson’s iconic Leon as well as giving a nod to films such as The Karate Kid.

In the past year, producers MOLIFILMS, have seen the theatrical release of its first feature, the powerful British drama Best Laid Plans through Sony Pictures.  Inspired by John Steinbeck’s ‘Of Mice and Men’, the film saw stunning performances from Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaye (soon to be seen in Thor: The Dark World opposite Chris Hemsworth) and BIFA-nominee Stephen Graham (Pirates of the Caribbean:  On Stranger Tides, Gangs of New York, This is England, Snatch).  MOLIFILMS second feature, The Rise (aka Wasteland) saw multiple festival and award nominations for its writer/director Rowan Athale at the London Film Festival and the Toronto International Film Festival, as well as a BIFA nomination.  Wasteland stars Matthew Lewis (Harry Potter’s Neville Longbottom, Timothy Spall (Harry Potter, Secrets & Lies), Iwan Rheon (Misfits, Game of Thrones) and Luke Treadaway (Clash of the Titans).  Molifilms is also executive producer of the Academy Award-winning The King’s Speech starring Colin Firth and Helena Bonham-Carter.
International sales on “MONTANA” are being handled by The Salt Company http://www.salt-co.com