Based on Kevin Sampson's cult novel, AWAYDAYS is set for UK cinema release in March 2009, after two sell-out screenings at the recent London Film festival. Sampson wrote AWAYDAYS in 1982, but it would be 16 years later before the book was picked up and released. The story is set in late 1979, some six months into Margaret Thatcher's first term which, for many people, was "like watching a virus take hold". The main character, Paul Carty, is 19 and heavily into football and music. Following his mother's death, Paul is offered a way into 'The Pack'; a gang of football hooligans who travel the country seeking confrontation with rival firms. As Paul sinks deeper and deeper into his new lifestyle, relationships threaten to explode amidst paranoia and jealousy.
With a soundtrack boasting songs from Joy Division, Magazine, Wire and The Cure, together with other UK bands, AWAYDAYS promises to be a vibrant, vital slice of British culture and a must-see for those who were there and those who remain curious about the era.
