Calendar Girls

Synopsis

Chris and Annie are the best of friends — very different, but very close. Living in a small village in the Yorkshire Dales, their peaceful lives are shattered when Annie's husband dies of leukemia. An active member of the local Women's Institute, Chris enlists the support of her fellow members in a fund-raising initiative for the local hospital. Her seemingly traditional idea is to produce a calendar, with a different woman photographed for each month. Each one will be engaged in a classic WI task, such as jam making, flower pressing and knitting. Sounds traditional enough, but her idea has a radical twist - the women will be in the nude. Before they know it, the women are hitting the headlines at home and abroad. Whisked off to Hollywood on a whirlwind publicity tour, they take their turn on the talk shows and in magazine photo-shoots. Amidst the hype and glamour, the friendship between Chris and Annie is put to the test.

Biography

Director NIGEL COLE made his feature film debut with SAVING GRACE, the comedy about a middle-aged woman who goes into the cannabis trade which starred Brenda Blethyn. The film enjoyed an enthusiastic world premiere at the 2000 Sundance Film Festival and had Cole fending off several offers from Hollywood agents and producers. Cole began his career in fringe theatre before moving on to commercials and television. He directed the first series of the award-winning, hugely popular comedy drama series COLD FEET, as well as episodes of the IN THE WILD series, which took celebrities including Julia Roberts and Robin Williams to experience life in remote parts of the world.