21 oct 2022 MK2 Films boards Film4 and BFI-backed ‘How to Have Sex’

Directed by rising star Molly Manning Walker, How to Have Sex follows a group of teenage girls on a rite of passage clubbing holiday, as they navigate early sexual encounters.

Molly Manning Walker is a renowned DOP whose first short film as director, Good Thanks, You? premiered at Cannes. She subsequently won the Next Step prize at Cannes for the script for How to Have Sex.

Film4 and the BFI, awarding National Lottery funding, developed the project and are financing the production, alongside MK2 Films. International Sales will also be handled by MK2 Films. Film4 retains its customary suite of television and on-demand rights in the UK/Ireland.

“Molly Manning Walker is a major new talent, and we are thrilled to be working with her on her debut feature. Her witty, nuanced and ultimately devastating script perfectly encapsulates the intricacies of female friendship and teenage sexuality.” says MK2 Films’ managing director Fionnuala Jamison.

How to Have Sex stars a cast of rising talent led by Mia McKenna-Bruce (Persuasion, Vampire Academy) and Lara Peake (Mood, Brave New World) alongside Shaun Thomas (Ali and Ava, The Long Shadow) and Sam Bottomley (Somewhere Boy, Ladhood), alongside newcomers Enva Lewis and Laura Ambler.

Wild Swim Films’ Ivana MacKinnon and Emily Leo are producing alongside Heretic’s Konstantinos Kontrovrakis. Executive producers are Farhana Bhula and Ben Coren for Film4, Kristin Irving for the BFI, Giorgos Karnavas for Heretic, Phil Hunt and Compton Ross for Head Gear. How To Have Sex is currently shooting in Greece and will be ready for release in 2023.

“We are so excited to be making this film with an incredible cast and crew, led by an immensely talented writer/ director with a unique and honest voice.” (Wild Swim Films)

Film4’s Farhana Bhula says “We are extremely proud to support Molly and producers Ivana and Emily on How To Have Sex. Molly is a very exciting new voice, and we can’t wait to see her combine an extraordinary visual sensibility with a story that is pulsating with vitality and urgency.”

Kristin Irving, Senior Production & Development Executive at the BFI Film Fund, said: “We were electrified by Molly’s bold and bright vision for this film and it’s a privilege to be supporting her and the extraordinary producers, cast and crew in making her debut that promises to be so alive, luminous, and vital.”

Manning Walker is represented by Patrick Child at Independent Talent.

Read more in Deadline here.