Director Kieron J Walsh’s ‘Jump’ is the latest Irish feature to be selected for the prestigious Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) which runs from September 6-16.
Walsh’s feature joins a strong list of Irish-shot titles screening at the festival, including Lenny Abrahamson’s ‘What Richard Did’; Neil Jordan’s ‘Byzantium’ and ‘Men At Lunch’, an Irish documentary directed by Sean O'Cualáin.
Other features screening at the festival involving Irish talent include the world premiere of ‘In Bruges’ director Martin McDonagh’s ‘Seven Psychopaths’, starring Colin Farrell; Chris O’Dowd’s Australian-shot comedy ‘The Sapphires’; and ‘Atonement’ director Joe Wright’s ‘Anna Karenina’, on which Armagh-born Seamus McGarvey was the cinematographer.
Shot in Northern Ireland, the screening of ‘Jump’ will mark Walsh’s third trip to TIFF where he attended once as a producer with ‘Sensation’ in 2010 and as director on both ‘When Brendan Met Trudy’ and the Beckett on Film project in 2001.
He said: “The Toronto Film Festival has to be the best possible festival for the film's international premiere and I can't wait to see it in front of a Toronto audience.”
The UK/Irish co-production follows four twenty-something's whose lives collide one fateful New Year's Eve amidst the ancient walls of Derry in a night of fast talk, accidents and intrigue. The film was written by Walsh and Steve Brookes and is based on a stage play of the same name by Lisa McGee.
The ensemble cast includes Martin McCann (Killing Bono, Whole Lotta Sole), Richard Dormer (Good Vibrations), Ciaran McMenamin (Saving the Titanic) and Charlene McKenna (Raw).
Brendan J Byrne produced for Hotshot Films alongside co-producing partner Katie Holly of Blinder Films. ‘Jump’ received funding from the Irish Film Board and Northern Ireland Screen, BBC and Limelight. It previously screened at the Belfast Film Festival and Galway Film Fleadh.
Speaking about the film’s selection, Byrne said: “I'm absolutely thrilled ‘Jump’ has been selected for TIFF. It's a great mark of confidence in the film from one of the world's top film festivals, and provides us with a great platform to attract the calibre of distribution that will ensure the widest possible audience for ‘Jump’. I look forward to exploring the avenues such a prestigious festival slot might open up for the film.”
With four Irish Film Board-funded titles screening (Jump, Men At Lunch, Byzantium, What Richard Did), IFB chief executive James Hickey added: “The Toronto International Film Festival is one of the industry's most prestigious and respected festivals. To have three feature films and a feature documentary selected is a testament to the quality and diversity of Irish filmmaking today. We're delighted that Irish film and Irish filmmaking talent continues to gain recognition on the international stage.”
