Three Screen Ireland-supported titles in Official Selection at this year’s London Film Festival
Posted: 9th September 2020
Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland is delighted to congratulate the creative teams behind three Screen Ireland-supported feature films on their Official Selection to the London Film Festival 2020. Phyllida Lloyd’s Herself, Tomm Moore and Ross Stewart’s Wolfwalkers and Cathy Brady’s Wildfire will all receive UK Premieres as part of the October festival’s hybrid programme of physical and virtual screenings.
Herself, directed by Phyllida Lloyd and co-written by Clare Dunne and Malcolm Campbell, will screen both in cinemas and virtually at the festival. Herself received its World Premiere at the Sundance Film Festival this January, with critical acclaim from outlets like Variety, who called it “the standout of the 2020 Sundance Film Festival”. It was produced by Ed Guiney and Rory Gilmartin for Element Pictures, together with Sharon Horgan for Merman.
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, drawing together a community of friends to support her.
Wolfwalkers follows Robyn Goodfellowe, a young apprentice hunter who journeys to Ireland with her father in a time of superstition and magic to wipe out the last wolf pack. While exploring the forbidden lands outside the city walls, Robyn befriends a free-spirited girl, Mebh, a member of a mysterious tribe rumored to have the ability to transform into wolves by night. As they search for Mebh’s missing mother, Robyn uncovers a secret that draws her further into the enchanted world of the Wolfwalkers and risks turning into the very thing her father is tasked to destroy. The Apple Original film is directed by Moore and Stewart and written by Will Collins. Paul Young, Nora Twomey, Moore and Stéphan Roelants serve as producers.
Wildfire stars Nora Jane-Noone and Nika McGuigan as Lauren and Kelly, two sisters whose mother’s mysterious death has torn them apart. Kelly, keen to escape their insular town, drifted away and disappeared a year ago. When she finally returns, the intense bond between the sisters is reignited. United they unearth their mother’s past, but the truth has devastating consequences. Wildfire is produced by David Collins for Samson Films, Charles Steel for Cowboy Films and Carlo Cresta-Dina for Tempesta Film. Financiers for the film include the British Film Institute (BFI), Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland, Film4 and Northern Ireland Screen, in association with Great Point Media, Sulcata Productions and Wellcome.
The London Film Festival will take place from 7 – 18 October 2020, with 58 feature films in Official Selection, screening both virtually and physically in the UK.