Sundance Continues Its Affair with Ireland Selecting Three New Irish Feature Films for Official Competition
The A-list Sundance Film Festival will again shine a light on Ireland as three new Irish feature films have been officially selected for competition from over 9,000 international submissions.
Irish comedy thriller THE GUARD starring Brendan Gleeson (Harry Potter, In Bruges, Perrier's Bounty) and Don Cheadle (Crash, Iron Man 2, Hotel Rwanda) and the new Irish documentary KNUCKLE, directed by Ian Palmer and PERFECT SENSE, an Irish co-production with Scotland starring Ewan McGregor will all have their world premieres at the world famous Sundance Film Festival which takes place from January 20th - 30th 2011.
These selections follow on from the Irish success at the 2010 festival, when the Irish box office hit HIS & HERS scooped the prize for Excellence in Cinematography and received a host of positive reviews from the critics.
THE GUARD is the debut feature from John Michael McDonagh and boasts a host of Irish talent including Liam Cunningham (Hunger, The Wind That Shakes The Barley), Fionnula Flanagan (The Invention of Lying), Dominique McElligott (Moon), David Wilmot (The Tudors), Rory Keenan (Zonad) and Pat Shortt (Garage). The film was filmed entirely on location in Galway, Connemara and Wicklow.
Director and writer John Michael McDonagh commented ""I would like to thank the Sundance Film Festival programmers for giving THE GUARD the prestigious opening night slot for films in the International Competition which shows their commitment to the film."
THE GUARD is a comedy about Sergeant Gerry Boyle, a small-town cop with a confrontational personality, a subversive sense of humour, a fondness for prostitutes and absolutely no interest whatsoever in the international cocaine-smuggling ring that has brought FBI agent Wendell Everett to his door.
New Irish documentary KNUCKLE tells the story of an epic 12-year journey into in the world of an Irish traveller community. The film takes us intimately inside their brutal, secretive and exhilarating bare-knuckle fighting lives.
Commenting on the selection director Ian Palmer said "It is fantastic news that KNUCKLE has been selected for the Sundance Film Festival. It's been a long, long journey making this film, it has been a central part of my life for the last 13 years. It started on a quiet country lane in County Louth in 1997 and now will finally emerge in the Rocky Mountains in Utah in 2011. It seems like a dream and I couldn't think of a better place for the film to be premièred than at Sundance."
The Sundance Film Festival, which was originally founded by Robert Redford, is world-renowned as a showcase for the best in new independent cinema. The festival will run from January 20th - 30th 2011 and is the largest independent cinema festival in the U.S., with more than 50,000 people attending screenings in Park City, Utah. The festival selects just 13 feature films and 12 documentaries for competition from more than 9,000 submissions.
PERFECT SENSE is a Scottish-Irish co-production which was directed by David McKenzie (Young Adam, Hallam Foe) and produced by Sigma Films and Subotica Films (with finance from the Irish Film Board and Creative Scotland).
THE GUARD was produced by Irish production company Element Pictures and UK's Reprisal Films with finance from BSÉ/IFB, Prescience, Aegis Film Fund, UK Film Council and Crescendo Productions. International sales are being handled by Metropolis International Sales and the film will be released by Optimum Releasing in the United Kingdom and Element Pictures Distribution in Ireland.
KNUCKLE is produced by Teddy Leifer for Rise Films with finance from the IFB and BBC Storyville.