Three Irish features; ‘Hunger’, ‘Kisses’, ‘Helen’, and the short film ‘Frankie’ have been selected to screen at the Times BFI 52nd London Film Festival taking place from the 15 – 30 October 2008.
Turner prize-winning artist Steve McQueen's Cannes winning feature ‘Hunger’ will enjoy a special screening at the festival. Co-written by McQueen and Irish screenwriter Enda Walsh (Disco Pigs), the film stars Michael Fassbender as the IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands. The film, shot on location in Northern Ireland, is also nominated for The Sutherland Trophy in the festival and has also is shortlisted for a European Film Academy Award nomination.
Lance Daly’s ‘Kisses’ which will also screen, has been a regular contender on the festival circuit having had screenings at Telluride, Toronto, Lorcano and at the Galway Film Fleadh. The film is due to be released in Ireland in November by Element Pictures Distribution and was produced by Macdara Kelleher of Dublin based Fastnet Films and Scandinavian production company Zentropa.
Darren Thornton’s 12 minute short ‘Frankie’, which recently scooped the Audience Award for Best Short Film award at the LA Film Festival, will screen as part of the Youth Shorts Programme. The short, written and directed by Thornton, tells the story of a 15 year old boy as he prepares for impending fatherhood.
Irish filmmaking team, Christine Molloy and Joe Lawlor, have recently seen their film ‘Helen’ picked up by distributor New Wave Films. The film is based on a 17 year old girl who becomes mixed up in her own life and a police reconstruction that she is hired for.
The London Film Festival programme includes a total of 15 world premieres, 189 features and 108 shorts including screenings of ‘Genova’ directed by Michael Winterbottom, ‘W’ by Oliver Stone, the first public screening of Marc Forster’s ‘Quantum of Solace’ and Danny Boyle’s ‘Slumdog Millionaire’.
For more information on the Times BFI 52nd London Film Festival visit www.bfi.org.uk/lff/
