ONDINE and CRACKS to premiere at Toronto International Film Festival
The Irish film ONDINE written and directed by Neil Jordan and Jordan Scott's boarding school drama CRACKS are both set to premiere at the upcoming Toronto International Film Festival, one of the most distinguished film festivals in the world which takes place 10th - 19th September.
ONDINE which shot on location in Castletownbere, Co. Cork last summer will have its world premiere in the Special Presentations strand at the festival.
Starring Colin Farrell (In Bruges, Intermission), Stephen Rea (The Crying Game), Alicja Bachleda (Comme des Voleurs) and introducing Alison Barry, it is a modern fairytale about hope, love and the value of believing in magic. It tells the story of Syracuse (Farrell) an Irish fisherman whose life is transformed when he catches a beautiful and mysterious creature (Bachleda) in his nets. His daughter Annie (Barry) comes to believe that the woman is a magical creature, while Syracuse falls helplessly in love. However like all fairy tales, enchantment and darkness go hand in hand.
Produced by James Flynn of Octagon Films and Ben Browning of Wayfare Entertainment, the film received funding from Wayfare Entertainment, in association with RTÉ, the Irish Film Board and Section 481.
Set in England in 1934 in an austere and cloistered girl's boarding school, CRACKS is a compelling tale of innocence corrupted. It stars Eva Green (Casino Royale) and shot for seven weeks in Dublin and Wickow last year.
It is a co-production between Irish production company Element Pictures (Garage, The Wind That Shakes The Barley) and UK production companies Scott Free (American Gangster, Gladiator), Future Films (Flawless, Goodbye Bafana) and Antenna 3 Films. It received financing from the Irish Film Board, Legende, Optimum, Zantos, Pinewood and Future Films.
The Toronto International Film Festival is an important festival for breaking into the North American market and receives over 4000 submissions annually. Previous Irish films selected to screen at the festival include A Film With Me In It (Ian Fitzgibbon), Kisses (Lance Daly), Garage (Lenny Abramson), Breakfast on Pluto (Neil Jordan), Kings (Tom Collins) and Pavee Lackeen (Perry Ogden).
Further Irish entries will be updated in due course.