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Crowds gather for Atonement in Redcar

The regional premiere of a film starring Keira Knightly and James McAvoy will take place in Redcar next week. Atonement, an adaptation of Ian McEwan’s novel, used Redcar’s beach to stand in for the beach at Dunkirk.

Director Joe Wright will return to Redcar, where he shot a number of the film’s scenes using 1,000 local extras, to attend the premiere screening which will take place at 7pm on Wednesday 5 September at The Regent Cinema, The Esplanade, Redcar. On general release from 7 September 2007, Atonement used the beach for scenes depicting the evacuation of Dunkirk, with The Regent Cinema, surrounding nature reserve and Corus steelworks also featuring in the movie.

Tom Harvey, Chief Executive of Northern Film & Media, said: “The entire experience of Atonement has been fantastic for Redcar & Cleveland. Securing the regional premiere is a great way to celebrate the release of the film, but the event is also a celebration of the hard work and commitment of the local authority and community who pulled out all of the stops to help make this happen in this region.”

Councillor Sheelagh Clarke, Cabinet Member for Culture, Leisure and Tourism at Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council, said: “The filming of Atonement created a great deal of excitement throughout Redcar and the region attracting over 70,000 visitors to the town in just over a week. We’re honoured that Redcar will now be part of the excitement surrounding the film’s release.”

Northern Film & Media, the Regional Screen Agency for the North East of England, worked with Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council and Working Title through its dedicated Location Service to arrange the use of Redcar as a location for Atonement.

To celebrate the 1940s setting of the film, the red carpet premiere will form the climax of a public street celebration to be held during the day on The Esplanade, Redcar.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .