Herself, female-led drama from Element Pictures and Irish writer Clare Dunne, Selected for the Sundance Film Festival
Posted: 5th December 2019
Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland is delighted to congratulate Element Pictures and the creative team behind Herself on its Official Selection to the Sundance Film Festival. The Phyllida Lloyd-directed film will receive its World Premiere in Park City, Utah in January 2020.
Désirée Finnegan, the Chief Executive of Screen Ireland commented: “Sincere congratulations to Element Pictures, Phyllida Lloyd and Clare Dunne on the selection of Herself for the 2020 Sundance Film Festival. Sundance is renowned for its recognition of original storytellers with fresh perspectives and provides an outstanding platform to launch a film into the international marketplace. Screen Ireland is delighted to support the creative talent behind Herself, in particular Clare Dunne, who both originated the story and stars in the film.”
Herself is directed by Phyllida Lloyd (Mamma Mia!, The Iron Lady) and co-written by Clare Dunne, who also stars in the film, and Malcolm Campbell (What Richard Did). Herself follows the story of Sandra (Clare Dunne), who on the surface of it, is a young Mum struggling to provide her two young daughters with a warm, safe, happy home to grow up in. Beneath the surface, Sandra has a steely determination to change their lives for the better and when it becomes clear that there are no other options left to her, she decides to build it herself from scratch. Other cast include Harriet Walter (Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Killing Eve, Succession) and Conleth Hill (Game of Thrones, Dublin Murders).
Herself was developed by Element Pictures and Merman and is produced by Academy Award® nominee Ed Guiney and Rory Gilmartin for Element, together with BAFTA award-winning actress, writer, producer and director Sharon Horgan. The film was developed with BBC Films and Screen Ireland and production was backed by Screen Ireland, BBC Films and the BFI (with National Lottery funding). Cornerstone Films is handling worldwide sales and distribution. Herself was shot entirely in Dublin.
The 2020 Sundance Film Festival will take place from 23 January – 2 February in Park City, Utah. You can find more information about the full line-up here.