IFTN takes a look at festival stories of Irish interest from around the world. This week’s round-up includes prize wins for fantasy film ‘The Legend of Longwood’ and animated short ‘Coda’, as well as on the reception of ‘Let Us Prey’ for its North American premiere.
‘The Legend of Longwood’ Wins Second Prize at Giffoni Film Festival
‘The Legend of Longwood’, a new Irish fantasy feature, has won second prize in its category at the 44th Giffoni Film Festival, Europe’s largest festival for children’s cinema. The movie received second prize in the Element +10 category, which is aimed at films and shorts for audiences aged between 10 and 12.
Directed and co-written by Lisa Mulcahy, ‘The Legend of Longwood’ stars newcomer Lucy Morton and Miriam Margoyles (‘Harry Potter’). The film stars Morton as Mickey Miller, a young American who must lift an ancient curse from a small Irish town and its people. Lucy encounters a world of supernatural and magic forces in this modern-day fairy tale.
‘The Legend of Longwood’ was filmed in Dublin and Wicklow and was produced by Grand Pictures. The project was financed by the Irish Film Board, the Dutch Film Fund, Premiere Pictures and the DFFF – German Federal Film Fund.
The 163 films from this year’s festival were chosen from 3,760 potential titles. The festival, now in its 44th year, was attended by Hollywood stars including Richard Gere, Alan Rickman and Lea Michele.
Irish Horror Film ‘Let Us Prey’ has North American Premiere at Fantasia Film Festival
‘Let Us Prey’, the debut feature from director Brian O’Malley, was rapturously received following its sold-out North American premiere at Montreal's Fantasia Film Festival. The screening of the thriller was attended by an audience of 700 and received positive reviews following the screening from quipmag.com and playbackstl.com among others.
The film, which stars starring Liam Cunningham (‘Game of Thrones’, ‘Hunger’) and Pollyanna McIntosh (‘Filth’, ‘Love Eternal’), tells the story of an enigmatic stranger (Cunningham) who is detained in the cells of a remote police station one fateful night. As the stranger begins to take over the minds and souls of his fellow inmates and those of the police officers, he influences them to bend to his evil will and encourages their latent inner demons to explode in a crazed night of blood-spilling and mayhem. Only rookie cop Rachel seems to be able to resist his influence...
‘Let Us Prey’ was produced by Brendan McCarthy and John McDonnell of Fantastic Films (‘Last Days on Mars’) and Eddie Dick of Makar Productions (‘Outcast’).
Short animation ‘Coda’ has More Wins on Festival Circuit
‘Coda’, a short Irish animation funded by the Irish Film Board, RTE and the Arts Council, continues its festival success, winning three international prizes in the past week. The SXSW-winning short has just won Best in Show at Animation Block Party (USA), Audience Choice Award at the Seoul International Cartoon & Animation Festival (Korea) and joint best animated movie at Kraktofil Plus (Bosnia & Herzegovina).
With upcoming screenings at Traverse, Odense and many more film festivals, the film has become a firm festival favourite with audiences from around the world.
‘Coda’ is a nine minute long hand-drawn animation directed by Alan Holly and voiced by Brian Gleeson (‘The Stag’, ‘Love/Hate’) and by Orla Fitzgerald (‘The Wind that Shakes the Barley’).
