Irish animated shorts join ‘Song of the Sea’ at the Anima Mundi Film Festival, four Irish films for Fantasia and Amy Winehouse documentary ‘Amy’, which will be distributed by Wildcard, will screen at Edinburgh.
Irish animated films at the Anima Mundi Film Festival
Irish animated short films ‘Somewhere Down the Line’, ‘Deadly’ and ‘Tea With the Dead’, in addition to the Academy Award-nominated and IFTA Best Film winner ‘Song of the Sea’, have been selected to screen at the Anima Mundi Film Festival, an animation film festival which takes place in Rio De Janeiro and Sao Paulo in July.
‘Somewhere Down the Line’ was the winner of the IFTA Animated Short 2015 as well as winning the Best Animation award in the International Competition at the prestigious Clermont Ferrand Short Film Festival in February. It was directed by Julien Regnard and examines a man's life, loves and losses which are shown through the exchanges he has with the passengers in his car. The film was made using a combination of 2D and 3D animation effects and music was supplied by Matthew Nolan, Cameron Doyle and Lioba Petrie of Dublin-based collective 3epkano. The short was produced by Jonathan Clarke for Cartoon Saloon, based in Kilkenny.
‘Deadly’ was directed by Aidan McAteer and produced by Shannon George of Kavaleer Productions. It tells the story of Boney, a working stiff in a dead-end job. That is until he has a run-in with a spirited old lady named Bridie. The award-winning short features the voices of Peter Coonan and Brenda Fricker.
‘Tea With the Dead’ was directed by Gary Gill and follows Frank (voiced by Frank Kelly), a gentle unassuming embalmer from Ballyconneely, a small town in Connemara. After Frank has washed, disinfected, removed and replaced fluids, applied cosmetics and dressed the deceased, he always makes two cups of tea. One for him and one for the dead. ‘Tea With the Dead’ was produced by Wiggleywoo.
The Oscar-nominated Song of the Sea was directed by Tomm Moore and tells the story of Ben and his little sister Saoirse - the last Seal-child - who embark on a fantastic journey across a fading world of ancient legend and magic in an attempt to return to their home by the sea. The film takes inspiration from the mythological Selkies of Irish folklore, who live as seals in the sea but become humans on land. ‘Song of the Sea’ comes from Kilkenny-based Cartoon Saloon. The film was Oscar nominated earlier this year and won the Best Picture IFTA last month.
The Anima Mundi Film Festival will take place from July 10 to 15 in Rio de Janeiro and from July 17 to 22 in Sao Paulo.
Four Irish productions for Fantasia
Four Irish productions are amongst the line-up of the 19th Fantasia International Film Festival, which takes place in Montreal in July. ‘Traders’, ‘The Hallow’, ‘Cherry Tree’ and ‘The Visit’ will join a selection of international films at the festival.
‘Traders’ is the feature debut of directors Peter Murphy and Rachel Moriarty, and stars Killian Scott and John Bradley. It follows newly redundant Harry Fox, who sees himself as the unwilling member of a new underclass of the jobless and the pointless. He had looked forward to a rising salary curve, now he sees a slow meaningless grind to a state pension. Then Harry’s former colleague Vernon Stynes steps up with a new business proposition. Two people convert all their assets to cash, arrange to meet, dig one grave and fight to the death. Winner buries the loser and instantly doubles his value. Can he persuade Harry to become a Trader?
‘Cherry Tree’ was directed by David Keating and stars Anna Walton, Naomi Battrick and Sam Hazeldine. The film follows Faith, who is in a bad place. Her Dad, Sean, is ill, she fears he is dying and is haunted by the prospect of a life alone. Faith confides in her teacher and sports coach Sissy – who tells her she can cure Sean but there’s a price Faith must pay.
‘The Hallow’ was directed by Corin Hardy and filmed in Co. Galway. The film follows a London-based conservationist who moves to Ireland with his wife and baby, to survey an area of ancient forest believed by the superstitious locals to be hallowed ground. He unwittingly disturbs a horde of terrifying beings and must fight to protect his family. The film also stars Michael McElhatton and Michael Smiley. The film was produced by Occupant Entertainment and Fantastic Films.
‘The Visit’ is a documentary from the team behind ‘His & Hers’, and poses the question, what would happen if we were to be visited by a being from another world? The film presents this hypothetical scenario to experts from around the world who have already dedicated their lives to preparing for such an event. ‘The Visit’ was directed by Michael Madsen and was produced by Venom Films, Magic Hour Films, Mouka Filmi, Nikolaus Geyrhalter Film and Indie Film.
‘Traders’, ‘Cherry Tree’, ‘The Hallow’ and ‘The Visit’ are all funded by the Irish Film Board. The Fantasia International Film Festival takes place from July 14th to August 4th 2015.
Wildcard’s ‘Amy’ for Edinburgh
‘Amy’, the new documentary on the life and career of the late Amy Winehouse that will be co-distributed by Wildcard Distribution in Ireland next month, will have its UK premiere at this month’s Edinburgh International Film Festival. The film was officially unveiled at last month’s Cannes Film Festival to a flurry of five star reviews, with critics singling it out as the outstanding documentary at the festival.
The Edinburgh screening of ‘Amy’ will take place on the 18th of June and will be attended by director Asif Kapadia, whose previous film ‘Senna’ won BAFTAs for Best Documentary and Outstanding British Film in 2010. Festival attendees will also have a second chance to catch the film at a subsequent screening on the 20th of June in the same venue.
The EIFF programme calls ‘Amy’ an “absorbing, moving, insightful and powerful documentary…that charts the amazing highs and terrible lows in the life of the wonderfully talented but terribly troubled Amy Winehouse…Great use of home video, camera phones, archive footage and interviews combine to craft a mesmerising – and often very sad – film brimming with magical musical moments, offering a remarkable portrait of a wonderful talent.”
Speaking last month about partnering with Altitude Entertainment to distribute the film in Ireland, Wildcard CEO Patrick O’Neill said of the film: “We’re extremely honoured to be working on this magnificent film. Amy Winehouse remains an icon, but Asif Kapadia’s film reveals the all too human fragility of the woman behind the headlines. It’s both a powerful meditation on the pitfalls of fame and a moving celebration of a once in a lifetime artist.”
This year’s Edinburgh Film Festival takes place from the 17th to the 28th of June.
‘Amy’ opens in cinemas around Ireland and the UK on the 3rd of July.
