'Swansong: Story of Occi Byrne' Selected for Competition at Camerimage in Poland
Irish feature film ‘Swansong, Story of Occi Byrne', written and directed by Conor McDermottroe, has been selected as one of twelve films from hundreds of entries worldwide to compete at the International Film Festival of the Art of Cinematography in Poland. The festival is dedicated to feature films with the best cinematography, lighting, camera movement and visual impression.
‘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 because he has no father. Occi grows up plagued by anger, confusion and pain. In the hopes of unlocking his own identity and overcoming the past that haunts him, he sets out to find his father and discover the secret of his birth. Remaining fiercely loyal to his mother, Occi is consistently tested on his journey, but eventually learns the true power that comes with love, friendship and most of all, a sense of belonging.
Starring Martin McCann (The Sound of People, Killing Bono) in the lead role as Occi, the film has already enjoyed an exclusive theatrical release in Ireland. It was produced by Edwina Forkin and Tom Maguire for Zanzibar Films in Ireland and Hermann Florin for Florin Films in Germany with finance coming from BSÉ/IFB, RTÉ, Eurimage, Kinowelt and ZDF/Arte.
The Cinematography team on the film is led by DOP Alexander du Prel with Gaffer Paul Nobel, AC Boye Klüver, Clapper Loader Clemens Krüger and Keygrip Stefan Scheuring. It was filmed on 16mm on location in Sligo. The team alongside writer and director Conor Mc Dermottroe will be in attendance at the festival, which is being held from 27th November-4th December in Bydgoszcz, Poland.