Irish Film Swansong, Story of Occi Byrne Nominated at Munich Festival
The Irish feature film Swansong, Story of Occi Byrne, written and directed by Conor McDermottroe has been nominated for Best First Feature at the 28th Munich Film Festival which takes place this week.
Swansong, Story of Occi Byrne portrays the life of Austin ‘Occi' Byrne who is brought up in Sligo by his alcoholic mother and who suffers traumatic bullying at the hands of a local gang. Leaving the asylum he is committed to as an adolescent, Occi embarks on an emotional journey when he sets out on a quest to find his father and to find peace.
This moving tale stars Martin McCann (The Sound of People, Killing Bono) in the lead role as Occi, with Jodie Whittaker (Perrier's Bounty), Marcella Plunkett (Once), Gerard Mc Sorley (Wide Open Spaces), Brid Brennan (Dancing at Lughnasa) and Owen Roe (Intermission) all included in the cast.
The film is an Irish/German co-production between Edwina Forkin and Tom Maguire for Zanzibar Films in Ireland and Hermann Florin for Florin Films in Germany. It was co-financed by the IFB, RTÉ, Eurimage, Kinowelt and ZDF/Arte and was shot entirely on location in Sligo.
The film premiered at last year's Galway Film Fleadh where it picked up the runner up prize for Best Irish Feature Film.
The Munich Film Festival celebrates the best in cinema from around the world and is one of the leading film events in Europe, showing premieres from world-famous directors as well as discovering talented and innovative young filmmakers.
For further information on Swansong, Story of Occi Byrne see the official website http://www.swansongthemovie.com/