CREATIVE IRISH FILM ONCE WINS MAJOR PRIZE AT SUNDANCE
The Irish film Once, directed and written by John Carney (Bachelors Walk, On the Edge) has won the World Cinema Audience Award in the dramatic category at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival.Once, which was discovered by Sundance programmers at the Galway Film Festival last year, stars Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova in the leading roles and is a modern-day musical set on the streets of Dublin telling the story of a busker and an immigrant, who fall in love over an eventful week, as they write, rehearse and record a number of songs.
Minister for Arts Sport and Tourism John O'Donoghue said "The Sundance Film Festival is widely considered to be one of the most prestigious film festivals in the world. I wish to offer my congratulations to John, Glen and the rest of the cast and crew on this a marvelous achievement. This is yet another great day in the continued growth of the Irish film industry."
"For a such a personal Irish film to breakthrough and win such an important award is real recognition of original and independent film-making. John Carney is clearly one of Ireland's most gifted film directors and we look forward to working with him again in the future." said Simon Perry, Chief Executive, Bord Scannan na hEireann/the Irish Film Board.
"We're overwhelmed at the response of the Sundance audiences to our film Once, all week. We have received over 150 positive reviews for the film in both the film and music press. Winning this award has capped off what has been an amazing experience for us, in particular watching the festival embrace our film so positively" said Martina Niland, Producer, Samson Films.
Summit Entertainment is currently selling the film worldwide. Other major films on the Summit slate include the Oscar nominated film Babel. Executive producer David Collins commented that he is currently negotiating a raft of international sales for the film.
The annual Sundance Film Festival, which was originally founded by Robert Redford, is world-renowned as a showcase for the best in new independent cinema. This year the festival included 82 world premieres, among it's 122 feature titles selected from 25 different countries. The festival received over 1,435 submissions from countries outside of the US.
Other Irish films which have screened at Sundance include Song for a Raggy Boy directed by Aisling Walsh in 2003 and Paul Greengrass' Bloody Sunday, which scooped the World Cinema Audience Award in 2002 and Paddy Breathnach's film I Went Down.
Once was produced and financed by Samson Films with the assistance of the Irish Film Board and RTE. Irish audiences will have an opportunity to see the film when it premieres at the Dublin International Film Festival on Monday February 19th. The film will be released in Irish cinemas by Buena Vista International in March this year.