Sean Penn Stars in New Feature Film THIS MUST BE THE PLACE Filming on Location in Ireland
Cameras start rolling this week on Italian director Paolo Sorrentino's first English feature THIS MUST BE THE PLACE, which is shooting on location in Dublin for the next three weeks. The film stars Oscar-winners Sean Penn (Milk, Mystic River), Frances McDormand (Fargo), and musician David Byrne, alongside Irish talent Simon Delaney (Zonad, Happy Ever Afters), Olwen Fouere and newcomer Eve Hewson, daughter of U2 singer Bono.
Sorrentino has written and directed numerous award-winning films including Il Divo, which was nominated for a Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival and for Best Director and Best Screenplay at the European Film Awards in 2008. He also directed La Partita Lenta, which picked up the Audience Award at the Raindance Film Festival last year.
The film tells the story of a wealthy former rock star, who upon learning that his estranged father is close to death, leaves his home in Dublin to be reconciled with him. As he learns the true extent of his father's humiliation in Auschwitz, he is determined to avenge his persecutor, an ex-Nazi war criminal now hiding out in the U.S. So begins a life-altering journey, as he is reawakened by the people he encounters and is eventually forced to choose between redemption or revenge.
THIS MUST BE THE PLACE is an Irish-Italian co-production between Irish production company Element Pictures (All Good Children, The Wind That Shakes The Barley) and Indigo Film (Il Divo) and Lucky Red in Italy. The film will have a 10 week shoot in total, beginning in Dublin, before moving to U.S locations including Michigan, New Mexico and New York. It has a budget of over €20 million, with funding provided by the Irish Film Board, Eurimage, Medusa, Indigo Film, Intesa Sanpaolo Bank and ARP Selection France.