‘Sing Street’, ‘Love & Friendship’, ‘Viva’, ‘The Lobster’ Are Added to Sundance 2016 Lineup
Four further Irish features have been announced to screen at this year’s Sundance Film Festival: Sing Street from John Carney, Whit Stillman’s period drama Love & Friendship, the acclaimed Viva directed by Paddy Breathnach and written by Mark O’Halloran and The Lobster from Yorgos Lanthimos.
With these films joining the previously-announced Mammal and The Land of the Enlightened, a total of six features funded by Bord Scannán na hÉireann/the Irish Film Board will screen at the festival.
The world premiere will take place of the eagerly awaited Sing Street. A musical written and directed by John Carney (Once, Begin Again), Sing Street stars Ferdia Walsh-Peelo, Lucy Boynton, Jack Reynor, Maria Doyle Kennedy and Aidan Gillen.
Love & Friendship also receives its world premiere at the festival. Based on the novel ‘Lady Susan’ by Jane Austen, it reunites Kate Beckinsale and Chloë Sevigny with director Whit Stillman with whom they previously collaborated on The Last Days of Disco.
Viva premiered at the Telluride Film Festival to great acclaim. Directed by Paddy Breathnach (I Went Down) and written by Mark O’Halloran (Adam & Paul), it is executive produced by Benicio Del Toro. It is Ireland’s submission for the Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award®.
The Lobster premiered at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival, where it was the winner of the Jury Prize. Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos and written by Yorgos Lanthimos and Efthimis Filippou, The Lobster has proven to be a hit at the Irish and UK box office. It was co-produced by Dublin-based Element Pictures.
The 2016 Sundance Film Festival takes place from January 21st to 31st 2016 in Park City, Utah.
About ‘Sing Street’
Sing Street takes us back to 1980s Dublin where the recession forces 14-year-old Cosmo out of his comfortable private school and into survival mode at the inner-city public school where the kids are rough and the teachers are rougher. He turns to music and forms a ragtag band, shooting scrappy music videos, and finding refuge and love with the beautiful 16-year-old Raphina.
Writen and directed by John Carney, Sing Street stars Ferdia Walsh- Peelo, Lucy Boynton, Jack Reynor, Maria Doyle Kennedy and Aidan Gillen. Produced by Martina Niland, Anthony Bregman, Paul Trijbits, Christian Grass and John Carney and production companies are Cosmo Films, Likely Story, Filmwave. It was funded by the IFB and Merced Media Partners.
About ‘Love & Friendship’
Set in the 1790s, Love and Friendship follows the machinations of the beautiful widow Lady Susan Vernon, who seeks refuge from rumour and gossip about her dalliances and plots new conquests at the estate of her in-laws. Adapted from the novel ‘Lady Susan’ by Jane Austen
Directed and adapted by Whit Stillman, Love and Friendship stars Kate Beckinsale, Chloe Sevigny, Xavier Samuel and Stephen Fry. It was produced by Katie Holly, Whit Stillman and Lauranne Bourrachot. Production companies were Blinder Films, Westerly Films, Chic Films and Revolver Amsterdam. It was funded by IFB, Arte France Cinema, Protagonist Pictures, Netherlands Film Fund, Soficinema 11 and Cineimage 10.
About ‘Viva’
The film 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 film, which is Executive Produced by Benicio Del Toro, stars Hector Medina, Jorge Perugorría, Luis Alberto García, Mark O’Halloran and Laura Alemán and is supported by Bord Scannán na hÉireann/the Irish Film Board, Windmill Lane Pictures, RTÉ and Treasure Entertainment. It is produced by Robert Walpole and Rebecca O'Flanagan (both of Treasure Entertainment), Cathleen Dore and Nelson Navarro Navarro of Island Films.
About ‘The Lobster’
The Lobster is a love story set in the near future where single people, according to the rules of The City, are arrested and transferred to The Hotel. There they are obliged to find a matching mate in 45 days. If they fail, they are transformed into an animal of their choosing and released into The Woods. A desperate Man escapes from The Hotel to The Woods where The Loners live and falls in love, although it is against their rules.
The Lobster was directed by Yorgos Lanthimos and written by Yorgos Lanthimos and Efthimis Filippou. It was produced by Ed Guiney, Lee Magiday, Ceci Dempsey and Yorgos Lanthimos. Executive Producers are Andrew Lowe, Tessa Ross and Sam Lavender. The Lobster is an Element Pictures, Scarlet Films, Faliro House, Haut et Court, Lemming Film co-production in association with Limp and with Irish finance for the film from Bord Scannán na hÉireann/the Irish Film Board.