Director Mary Harron currently behind the camera for the big screen
adaptation of THE MOTH DIARIES

Shooting under way in Montreal

MONTREAL, Sept. 9 /CNW Telbec/ - THE MOTH DIARIES commenced principal photography on the official Canada-Ireland co-production on August 31 on location in and around Montreal. The gothic horror feature film written and directed by Mary Harron is based on the cult novel of the same name written by Rachel Klein. The motion picture stars Lily Cole, Sarah Gadon, Sarah Bolger and Scott Speedman. Production continues until October 8.

At Brangwyn, an elite girls boarding school, Rebecca (Sarah Bolger), a young girl haunted by her father's suicide, begins her junior year hoping for a fresh start. From the outset her friendship with sunny, innocent Lucy (Sarah Gadon) is shattered by the arrival of Ernessa (Lily Cole), a mysterious, dark and beautiful girl from Europe. As her friendship with Lucy slips away, Rebecca develops a crush on her handsome English professor, Mr. Davies (Scott Speedman), who is teaching a course on supernatural fiction.

The supernatural elements in THE MOTH DIARIES are rooted in the real experience of a young girl faced with her emerging sexuality and caught in a web of obsessive friendship, jealousy and betrayal.

The film's producers are Sandra Cunningham of Strada Films, Karine Martin of Mediamax (a division of Mediabiz International) and David Collins of Irish production company Samson Films. Ronald Gilbert of Mediamax is the co-producer. Executive producers are Edward R. Pressman of Edward R. Pressman Film, Jean-François Doray and Louis-Simon Ménard of Mediabiz International.

Director and screenwriter Mary Harron is best-known for her acclaimed feature film American Psycho, based on Bret Easton Ellis' controversial novel, starring Christian Bale and produced by Edward R. Pressman, as well as her films I Shot Andy Warhol and The Notorious Bettie Page, the story of 1950s pinup and bondage model Bettie Page.

Lily Cole's successful modeling career, in which she has been photographed for Chanel, Hermès and Louis Vuitton among others, has made Lily one of the most recognizable faces in the world. Her first leading role was in Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus in which she starred alongside Heath Ledger, Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell and Jude Law, and for which she recently garnered a 2010 Scream Awards nomination for Best Fantasy Actress.

Dublin-based Sarah Bolger recently starred opposite Jonathan Rhys Meyers in Showtime's hit series The Tudors for which she won an Irish Film and Television Award for Best Supporting Actress. Her growing list of film credits includes Oscar-nominated director Jim Sheridan's In America, Alex Rider: Operation Stormbreaker alongside Mickey Rourke and Bill Nighy and the fantasy adventure The Spiderwick Chronicles.

Newcomer Sarah Gadon will next appear in David Cronenberg's A Dangerous Method alongside Michael Fassbender, Keira Knightley and Viggo Mortensen, and Dream House directed by six-time Academy Award nominee Jim Sheridan, and starring Daniel Craig, Naomi Watts and Rachel Weisz.

Scott Speedman most recently starred in Atom Egoyan's film Adoration. He also starred opposite Liv Tyler in Universal/Rogue's box office smash The Strangers. Scott will next be seen in two Toronto International Film Festival selections: Barney's Version, opposite Paul Giamatti and Dustin Hoffman, and with Jay Baruchel in the thriller Good Neighbours.

THE MOTH DIARIES is produced with the financial participation of Telefilm Canada, the Irish Film Board, Mediabiz International, Future Films Ltd., the Harold Greenberg Fund and Windmill Lane, Dublin.

The film is distributed by Alliance Films in Canada, Lionsgate in the UK, and represented by Cinetic in the US. Wild Bunch is responsible for international sales. The release for the film is set for 2011.

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For further information: Puelo Deir, Unit Publicist, 514.833.9568, [email protected]