Irish Film GARAGE selected for the prestigious Director’s Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival
The Irish feature film, GARAGE, has been selected for the prestigious Director’s Fortnight at the 60th Cannes Film Festival which kicks off on May 16th and runs till May 27th. This is the second year in a row that an Irish film has been selected for the festival. Last year, THE WIND THAT SHAKES THE BARLEY was selected for official competition and went on to win the coveted prize of the Palme d’Or.GARAGE is the second film from director Lenny Abrahamson and writer Mark O’Halloran the team behind the award winning black comedy ADAM & PAUL. It stars Irish comedian Pat Shortt and features a cast which includes Anne-Marie Duff (SHAMELESS, THE MAGDALENE SISTERS) and newcomer Conor Ryan and is produced by Ed Guiney, executive produced by Andrew Lowe for Element Pictures and co-financed by Bord Scannán na hÉireann / the Irish Film Board, Film4, RTÉ and the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland
Regarded by his neighbours as a harmless misfit, Josie (Pat Shortt) has spent all his adult life as the caretaker of a crumbling petrol station on the outskirts of a small town in the mid-west of Ireland. He is limited, lonely, yet relentlessly optimistic and, in his own peculiar way, happy. GARAGE follows Josie’s hapless search for intimacy over the course of a summer which sees his life changed forever.
Olivier Pèe, Artistic Director of Directors Fortnight said: “Garage is such a wonderful movie. It is beautifully made and very moving with an amazing performance from Pat Shortt who will be the great discovery of the international audience at the Fortnight this year.”
Director Lenny Abrahamson said: “I am absolutely delighted that our work has received this recognition. It is a great start to the film’s life.”
Producer Ed Guiney said: “We’re very excited about bringing Garage to Cannes. Lenny and Mark have created a remarkable and beautiful film and the Cannes selection and screening is both a wonderful endorsement of this as well as a fantastic launch pad.”
Simon Perry, Chief Executive, Bord Scannán na hÉireann/the Irish Film Board said: “Lenny, Mark, Pat and their producers have conspired to make a quintessentially Irish film that will be seen and written about by audiences all over the world.”
Minister for Arts Sport and Tourism John O'Donoghue said" The presence of another Irish project in this prestigious event, following on from the success at the Palme D'Or in 2006 of "The Wind the Shakes the Barley", is evidence of the consistent high quality of Irish film production. This project GARAGE showcases the standard of excellence now apparent in all areas of the Irish film industry. I would like to congratulate the producers and all those involved, including Pat Shortt, Lenny Abrahamson and writer Mark O’Halloran. I would also like to praise the work of the Irish Film Board in helping to bring this project to a successful conclusion. I wish all the team the very best of luck with this project at Cannes and into the future."
Shot on location in Counties Offaly, Galway and Tipperary,over 6 weeks in late summer 2006, GARAGE is an Element Pictures production for the Irish Film Board, Film4, RTÉ and the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland.
Element Pictures previous credits include DEATH OF A PRESIDENT by Gabriel Range, Palme d’Or - Winner, THE WIND THAT SHAKES THE BARLEY by Ken Loach, OMAGH by Pete Travis, THE MAGDALENE SISTERS by Peter Mullan, and ADAM & PAUL by Lenny Abrahamson.
Please Note: Films in the Director’s Fortnight are screened out of competition
INFORMATION FOR EDITORS
About ADAM & PAUL
Director Lenny Abrahamson and writer Mark O’Halloran’s first feature Adam & Paul, was released in August 2004 and quickly became a critical and box office hit in Ireland. It went on to win accolades in Ireland and internationally: Galway Film Fleadh; Best Director at IFTAs (Irish Film and Television Awards); Official Selection at the Berlin Film Festival, Panorama Section; Grand Prix and the FIPRESCI prize at the Sofia International Film Festival.
It was nominated in the European Screenwriter category at the European Film Awards and opened in the UK in June 2005 to the best reviews for an Irish film in over a decade. Adam & Paul went on to win the Best Screenplay prize at the 2006 London Evening Standard Film Awards and the accolade Shooting Star from EFP for Mark at the Berlin Film Festival, 2005.
Bord Scannán na hÉireann / the Irish Film Board
Bord Scannán na hÉireann / the Irish Film Board (IFB) is Ireland’s national film agency. The IFB funds the development and production of Irish films aimed at domestic and international audiences, and promotes Ireland as a location for international production.
This role sees the agency directly involved in the creative process of Irish films from script to screen. The IFB provides investment for the development, production and release of Irish feature films, television, animation, documentaries and short films. This funding process has helped Irish Film Board financed projects to pick up more than 100 awards at key film festivals, including Cannes, Berlin, Venice and Toronto, the most recent major award being the Palme d’Or for The Wind That Shakes The Barley at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival and the World Cinema Audience Award for Once at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival.
The Film Commission arm of the agency attracts direct inward investment by assisting international producers with their needs while on location in Ireland. The Location Services Unit provides comprehensive information about all aspects of filming in Ireland, from tax incentives to locations, casting, crews, equipment and facilities.
Film4
Film4, Channel 4 Television’s feature film division, is headed by Tessa Ross. The company develops and co-finances films and is known for working with the most innovative talent in the UK, whether new or established.
Channel 4’s involvement in British film dates back 25 years to the year of its launch in 1982 when it established its own film commissioning department Film On Four, later re-branded Film4 and now known as Film4. Channel 4’s film department has built an enviable reputation for developing and financing the defining British films of the last quarter of a century - films like My Beautiful Launderette, Trainspotting, Shallow Grave, East is East, Motorcycle Diaries, Touching the Void, Road to Guantanamo, Venus, The Last King of Scotland,.
Kevin Macdonald’s The Last King of Scotland, which opened the 50th Times BFI London Film Festival in November last year, has since garnered numerous awards, including the Best Actor Oscar for Forest Whitaker in addition to his SAG Best Actor award and Best Director for Kevin Macdonald at the British Independent Film Awards. It has also received 3 BAFTA awards for Best Actor for Forest Whitaker, Best Adapted Screenplay and the Alexander Korda Award for Best Film. Fox is currently distributing the film in the US where it has reached over US$16m at the box office and is also distributing the film here in the UK where the box office currently totals in excess of £5m. Roger Michell’s Venus, which Miramax is currently releasing to huge acclaim in the US and BVI is releasing here in the UK, received 2 BAFTA nominations and a Best Actor Oscar nomination for Peter O’Toole.
Film4’s upcoming releases include Shane Meadows’ This is England (winner of Best Independent Film and also the Most Promising Newcomer Award for Thomas Turgoose at the BIFA’s), released by Optimum 27th April 2007. Julien Temple’s Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten to be released by Vertigo in May and David Mackenzie’s Hallam Foe, winner of a Silver Bear in Berlin, which will be distributed by BVI later this year. Currently in production are; Sarah Gavron’s Brick Lane, Anand Tucker’s And When Did You Last See Your Father?, Asif Kapadia’s True North, Martin McDonagh’s In Bruges, Lenny Abrahamson’s Garage, Duane Hopkins’ Better Things, Harmony Korine’s Mr Lonely , plus a new Mike Leigh film and Ken Loach’s next project These Times. Three further films that have just gone into production are Michael Winterbottom’s Genova, Sharon Maguire’s Incendiary and Fabrice Du Welz’s Donkey Punch.