Soilsiú Films’ documentary Much Ado About Dying opens in cinemas in UK and Ireland this month
Posted: 3rd May 2024
Irish documentary Much Ado About Dying opens in UK cinemas today and will be released in Irish cinemas from 10th May. The documentary, directed by Simon Chambers, was the winner of Best Directed Film at the International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (IDFA), the world’s largest documentary festival, in 2022. The film was initially developed with the support of Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland, and produced by David Rane for Soilsiú Films and co-produced by Simon Chambers.
Simon is shooting a film in India when his Uncle David calls him with a message of doom: “Come back to London, I think I may be dying.” What the viewer doesn’t yet know is that David is a Shakespeare-loving drama queen who has grown old on a diet of attention and applause. But Simon finds his own life drastically interrupted when he returns to try and sort everything out. David has no intention of dying.
While Simon tries to figure out how he can help his anarchic and spirited uncle, David sits in his kitchen reciting King Lear, “It’s the play about an old man becoming infirm, losing his mind and giving his kingdom away” he tells his nephew. As David’s life soon echoes the play that he loves so much, Simon is left with the challenge of trying to help David find a good ending to the drama that his own life has become.
Much Ado About Dying debuted to warm reviews from critics at IDFA 2022, with Variety calling it “an achingly funny-sad film” and The Guardian recently deeming it a “brave, loving record of an actor uncle’s last days”.
Soilsiú Films is the Irish production company led by BAFTA award-winning producer and director David Rane and filmmaker Neasa Ní Chianáin, and the team behind Screen Ireland-supported documentaries Girl Taken, Young Plato and The Alexander Complex.
For more information on upcoming screenings of Much Ado About Dying, please click here.