‘Sisk’ Scheduled for January Shoot, Cunningham to Star

‘Sisk’, a feature length thriller-drama, is written by Brian O’Malley (Screwback), Mark O’Rowe (Perrier’s Bounty) and Terry McMahon (Fair City) and will be directed by Brian O’Malley. ‘Sisk’ follows the final days of reformed Irish gangster Harry Sisk on his returns to Dublin after 30 years in the US. Though he wishes to leave his criminal past behind him his old enemies force him back into the underworld he left behind and Harry becomes embroiled in their bitter feud with the Chinese mafia. The film is currently still in development and it is to be produced by Alan Moloney (Breakfast on Pluto) and Susan Mullan (A Film With Me In It).

The screenplay for ‘Sisk’ won first prize in the Irish Film Institute’s Tiernan MacBride Screenwriting Award in 2005 and earned high praise from judges such as writer/director Kirsten Sheridan (August Rush) and producer Ned Dowd (executive producer, Apocalypto). This was followed by the screenplay claiming the title of Overall Winner at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival which in turn led to the project being honoured by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Back in 2005 IFTN spoke with Brian O’Malley and Terry McMahon following their return from L.A. During this meeting Brian spoke then of his hopes for ‘Sisk’: “This is a film that I have put four years of my life into and I think it deserves to be made. I believe it has a huge potential to be commercially successful, I believe it has the capacity to change the perception of Irish cinema because it’s based on an American model, its very commercial, accessible, exciting and it’s thrilling and yet very, very dark. I believe it’s a film that deserves to be made, should be made, and if it isn’t I’ll be devastated.”

Other cast and crew will be announced at a later date.

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