Sundance Deals for ‘The Guard’ & ‘Knuckle’ | The Irish Film & Television Network

‘The Guard’, written and directed by John Michael McDonagh (Ned Kelly), sees Emmy winner and IFTA nominee Brendan Gleeson (Perrier’s Bounty) playing an unorthodox Irish policeman who joins forces with Don Cheadle’s straitlaced FBI agent in a bid to take on an international drug-smuggling gang. The film is an Irish/UK co-production, backed by the Irish Film Board and section 481 as well as International Financiers. It is produced by Chris Clark and Flora Fernandez Marengo for Reprisal Films and Ed Guiney (Garage) and Andrew Lowe (The Wind that Shakes the Barley) for Element Pictures.

‘The Guard’ was given the opening film slot at this year’s festival for its world premiere, showing to audiences on February 20th. After four days of negotiations and a bidding war, Sony Picture Classics has closed a major deal for US and Latin American rights to the film which received rave reviews from the festival’s pundits. The feature has now sold to almost every territory in the world and will be seen by international audiences throughout 2011.

Speaking to IFTN earlier this week the film’s producer, Ed Guiney had voiced his desire to clinch a U.S. distribution deal at Sundance:“The film has sold very well internationally so far,” he told us. “But the U.S. is one of the few territories where it hasn’t sold yet. So hopefully that will all change after the festival.”

Feature documentary ‘Knuckle’ was directed, produced, shot and narrated by Ian Palmer over a 12 year period and examines the world of an Irish Traveller community. The doc concentrates on the brutal, and secretive bare-knuckle fighting culture in the traveling community and chronicles a history of violent feuding between rival clans, focusing particularly on two brothers, James Quinn McDonagh and his younger brother, Michael. ‘Knuckle’ was funded by the Irish Film Board and BBC Storyville. The film’s other producer is Teddy Leifer (Road to Las Vegas) and the feature is edited by Oliver Huddleston (Cowboys in India).

The feature documentary premiered this week at the festival and Revolver Entertainment have snapped up the Irish and U.K. rights whilst ContentFilm International bought all foreign rights (excluding the UK) and will now sell the documentary at the European Film Market at the Berlinale next month. The film should now see a UK/Irish cinema release later this year. This move has fulfilled most of director Ian’s wishes for the doc, as he outlined them to IFTN earlier this week: “Distribution everywhere would be great!” he told us. In further news HBO neared a deal which would see Rough House Pictures and the documentary’s producers, Rise Films remake ‘Knuckle’ into a TV drama series for the popular US channel.

The Irish short films, ‘Small Change’ from Cathy Brady and ‘The External World’ are also screening at the Sundance festival this year. Sundance is the largest independent cinema festival in the U.S., with more than 50,000 people attending screenings in Park City, Utah where it is being held this year from January 20th to 30th. For more information about Sundance visit www.sundance.org

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