Viva, The Lobster, The Hallow and 11 Minutes will Screen at South Korea’s Busan International Film Festival
Four Irish films, Viva, The Lobster, The Hallow and 11 Minutes, are set to screen at the world-renowned Busan International Film Festival in South Korea in October.
Written by Mark O'Halloran and directed by Paddy Breathnach, Viva follows Jesus, an eighteen-year-old Cuban is lost and struggling to realize his true identity. Unsure of himself or his future direction, he works at a local Havana drag club where he entertains dreams of becoming a performer whilst earning his money through hustling. At home he finds solace listening to the records his mother and grandmother left him. Into his life, however, comes a force to challenge his direction and freedom - his long-lost father Angel, once a celebrated boxer and newly released from a 15-year prison term.
The Lobster is a blackly funny love story set in a near future where finding love is a matter of life or death. Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, the film stars Colin Farrell (Intermission), Rachel Weisz (The Constant Gardener), John C. Reilly (Chicago), Ben Whishaw (Skyfall), Olivia Colman (Broadchurch), Léa Seydoux (Spectre) and Michael Smiley (The World's End). The winner of the Jury Prize at this year's Cannes Film Festival, it is set for release in Irish cinemas on Friday, October 16th.
The Hallow was directed by Corin Hardy and filmed in Co. Galway. The film follows a London-based conservationist (Joseph Mawle, Ripper Street) who moves to Ireland with his wife (Bojana Novakovic, Edge of Darkness) and baby, to survey an area of ancient forest believed by the superstitious locals to be hallowed ground. He unwittingly disturbs a horde of terrifying beings and must fight to protect his family. The film also stars Michael McElhatton (Game of Thrones) and Michael Smiley (The World's End).
Viva, The Lobster, The Hallow and 11 Minutes were funded by Bord Scannán na hÉireann/the Irish Film Board. The Busan International Film Festival takes place from October 1st to 10th.