Founded in 1997 by Douglas Cummins and Rocio Freire-Bernat, London-based producer/distributor AX1 (formerly Axiom Films) is an established independent film label with an emphasis on commercially focused independent production and distribution, championing filmmakers of the highest international calibre. It is a company consistently associated with quality rather than sheer quantity and strives to develop its business by fostering close working relationships with some of the most outstanding filmmakers from around the world.  

Over a period spanning 25 years, AX1 has become widely respected as an all-rights distributor in the UK and Ireland, known for its innovative and bespoke marketing that includes distinctive theatrical campaigns for many well-known independent films such as the Oscar-winning IN A BETTER WORLD by Susanne Bier, the Oscar-nominated US independents HALF NELSON and FROZEN RIVER, the Oscar and Golden Globe nominated Georgian film TANGERINES, as well as the late Jun Ichikawa’s highly acclaimed adaptation of TONY TAKITANI by Haruki Murakami. 

 

The company’s catalogue has also included important films from American writer / directors John Sayles, David O. Russell, Ryan Fleck, Ramin Bahrani, Todd Solondz, Courtney Hunt and the Safdie brothers, as well as established auteur filmmakers like Wim Wenders, Tsai Ming-Liang, Peter Greenaway, Asghar Farhadi, Pablo Trapero and José Luis Guerin.

 

As a producer, AX1 has steadily built a reputation for taking creative risks to uncover and nurture new talent and original ideas from all parts of the world. Credits include a raft of award-winning and critically acclaimed films such as the Australian cult classic THE BOYS by Rowan Woods starring Toni Collette, Pascal Bonitzer’s SMALL CUTS featuring Kristin Scott Thomas and Daniel Auteuil, Ivan Sen’s debut film BENEATH CLOUDS, acclaimed Argentinean filmmaker Pablo Trapero’s films ROLLING FAMILY and BORN AND BRED, the British drama BROKEN LINES featuring Paul Bettany and Olivia Williams, Vicente Amorim’s GOOD featuring Viggo Mortensen, David Riker’s US / Mexico co-production THE GIRL starring Abbie Cornish and Polly Steele’s LET ME GO starring Juliet Stevenson and Lucy Boynton. More recently, Cummins has co-produced FOUR LETTERS OF LOVE, a film adaptation of Niall Williams’ international best-selling novel of the same name featuring Pierce Brosnan, Helena Bonham Carter and Gabriel Byrne, and the cold war thriller WINTER OF THE CROW, an adaptation of a story by Nobel Prize for Literature and Booker Prize winner Olga Tokarczuk, starring Lesley Manville and Tom Burke.

 

AX1 is a member of both the UK Film Distributors' Association (FDA) and Producers' Alliance for Cinema and Television (PACT).