There aren’t many movies that the writer-director gleefully describes as “the naughtiest, wildest, craziest group drama about a group of kids in remission who go to summer camp and all they want to do is take tons of drugs and have a good time.”
But there aren’t many filmmakers like 25-year-old British filmmaker George Jacks. His second feature, Sunny Dancer, kicked off Berlinale’s Generation 14+ series. This coming-of-age comedy “takes a refreshing, uplifting, and surprising approach to the story of teenage cancer,” according to the more diplomatically worded official synopsis. The film also has perhaps the highest number of laughs and tears of any recent title, sometimes eliciting cheers and tears multiple times in just a few seconds.
Shot in Scotland and starring Bella Ramsay, Sunny Dancer follows Ivy, a difficult 17-year-old who has survived leukemia but struggles to come to terms with her rebellious adolescence. Sent by her loving parents (Jessica Gunning and James Norton) to a camp they call a “chemo camp” for children in remission, Ivy soon finds herself among a group of sociopaths, sex, booze, drugs, and a new desire for life. But while she’s finally feeling happier, she has to deal with the reality that her life can be brutally taken away at any time.
Inspired to make the film by both her mother, who had battled cancer, and her editor, who had attended a similar camp for children herself, Jax found herself attending a three-day retreat called “Searching for Tumor Sense” in a hospital where teenagers raced through the hallways with IVs in their hands, and in a hospital ward where she “had my first hand job.”
“These young people were really struck by something much more interesting than the diagnosis,” he says. So Jax set out to create a film that wouldn’t “popularize” younger audiences, that wouldn’t be part of the “weird subgenre of cancer movies,” and, importantly, wouldn’t feature any scenes of sick children lying in hospital beds.
He also wanted to bring back the “ensemble energy” of 1980s films like The Breakfast Club, bringing together actors he described as “the coolest young actors.” In addition to Ramsay, this raucous camp gang includes up-and-coming British stars Daniel Quinn-Toy (Voltron), Ruby Stokes (Rocks), Earl Cave (The Sweet East), Conrad Kahn (County Lines), and newcomer Jasmine Elcock.
Earl Cave, Conran Khan, Bella Ramsay, Ruby Stokes, Jasmine Elcock, and Daniel Quinn-Toy in Sunny Dancer. Provided by Colin J. Smith
Colin J. Smith
When Ramsay was first considered for the lead role, Jax thought it was a “great opportunity” and acknowledged that they were “probably the most famous young people on the planet” because of The Last of Us. But he sent hopeful letters and hot reels (including a “shitty camp video” splicing together Joe Pesci’s popular meme “What’s all this crap?”). They got on the phone and talked about life. Ramsey was also on board.
For those who know Jack, who is often referred to as a “force of nature,” this may all sound pretty standard. Fully embracing the “if you don’t ask, you don’t get” philosophy, the enthusiastic young filmmaker’s ability to draw people into his creative orbit is astonishing. And it didn’t stop with Ramsey.
The campaign is led by President Patrick, played by Neil Patrick Harris, who is surprisingly grumpy and frequently cracks dad jokes. The Emmy winner was instantly captivated on the Zoom call with another blockbuster casting panto. “He’s like family to me now. I stayed with him in New York,” says Jacques (who has since helped new friends dress in Hermès for Berlinale premieres through his fashion connections). Unsurprisingly, the two are already planning more projects together.
Late in the film, musician James Blunt makes a comically understated cameo performing his hit song “You’re Beautiful,” a casting that effectively began when Jax himself was a teenager and happened to strike up a chat with Blunt’s manager at a local pub. Almost 10 years later, with the number still in his possession, he called the man. do you remember me? He did so and arranged a Zoom with Brandt.
“He was a wonderful, very kind guy, and he came and did everything for free!” he says. “I remember looking at the monitor, and there was Neil Patrick Harris, and then there was James Norton and Jess Gunning, and then James Blunt singing ‘You’re Beautiful.’ I thought, oh my god, this is mental. I don’t actually know how they did this.”
Blunt may have sang on screen, but he didn’t compose the soundtrack. It was, of course, another music star, Este Haim of the sister trio Haim.
“It’s crazy that a Grammy-nominated artist would do something like this,” Jax says was his first reaction when the two connected through their manager. But Haim read the script, spoke with the filmmakers, and was convinced to join the party like everyone else. “She said, ‘George, I actually have type 1 diabetes and I used to go to diabetes camps.’ That’s when I first found out she was participating…and she brought in Zachary Dawes, her co-writer and Lana Del Rey’s bassist.”
And then there was Alison Goldfrapp. He happened to be sitting next to Jax at the show and, at Jack’s request, gave him the rights to use “Ooh La La” in the film for free.
Bella Ramsay in “Sunny Dancer”. Provided by Colin J. Smith
“It’s hard to make these indie films, so we need as much support as possible,” the filmmaker says of his fun and bold approach. “Because these types of movies don’t get made as much anymore. Gone are the days of ‘Juno’ and ‘About Time’ and all the beautiful movies that were made on the left, right and center.”
But thanks to Jack’s determination, his ever-expanding address book of industry contacts, and the support of Embankment Films, who supported the project from its earliest stages, Sunny Dancer actually got made. And this location could serve as a spot for a timely backstory in Berlin, a film that is currently set in the summer (surprisingly it never rained during filming in Scotland) and radiates enough warmth to counter the cold outside.
Because while “Sunny Dancer” is about a terrifying and deadly disease, and is understandably tinged with moments of extreme sadness, it’s also rich in loud, chaotic, youthful joy (and some seriously un-PC jokes about cancer).
During filming, the cast, with Harris’ help, went to see Kylie Minogue perform at the start of her world tour, and then went backstage to meet Kylie Minogue.
Few people would be shocked if Minogue appeared in Jack’s next movie, no matter how crazy an idea it might be.
