Award Winning Irish Film the 'The Eclipse' Set for US release and RTE Broadcast
Conor McPherson's award winning supernatural drama THE ECLIPSE will be released in US cinemas later this month and Irish audiences will have an opportunity to see this beautiful feature film on RTE One on St. Patrick's Day.
Based on a short story by Billy Roche, THE ECLIPSE is an Irish bittersweet romance with a gothic horror twist. The film follows single parent Michael Farr (Ciarán Hinds) as he struggles to come to terms with the death of his wife not to mention terrifying ghosts that appear at random. His only hope comes in the form of Lena Morelle (Iben Hjejle), a supernatural fiction writer being stalked by a best-selling author played by a scarily unpredictable Aidan Quinn. The film was produced by Treasure Entertainment with funding from Bord Scannán na hÉireann/the Irish Film Board (IFB), RTE and the BAI.
The film received its World Premiere at Robert DeNiro's Tribeca Film Festival in New York last year, where it became the hit of the festival, scooped the prize for Best Actor for Ciaran Hinds and was picked up for US distribution by Magnolia Pictures.
The film has since gone on to win a number of awards including three major prizes at the Irish Film and Television Awards including Best Irish Film, Best Film Script and Best Supporting Actor (Aidan Quinn) and has had much critical acclaim at film festivals around the world.
Director Conor McPherson said "THE ECLIPSE came about through my friendship with playwright Billy Roche. I was particularly drawn to a story he wrote called "Table Manners," which was set amid the hustle and tussle of a literary festival. We set the movie in Cobh, County Cork for its gothic atmosphere. The period buildings with their scale and elegance add so much to the feel of the story where past and present, the dead and the living, need to be palpably within reach of each other."
Magnolia Pictures will release THE ECLIPSE in New York and in Los Angeles on Friday, March 26th with a national US rollout to follow.
THE ECLIPSE will broadcast on RTE One on March 17th at 9.30pm.