Irish talent features prominently in Screen Daily’s list of ‘Hot 50 Films for 2011’. Two Irish produced films feature including Parallel Films’ ‘Albert Nobbs’ and Element Pictures’ ‘The Must be the Place’. Irish acting talent also appears with the shortlisting of Saoirse Ronan’s lead turn in Joe Wright’s ‘Hanna’ and three upcoming films starring Michael Fassbender including ‘Shame’, ‘A Dangerous Method’ and ‘Jane Eyre’.
The list, compiled by Screen Daily looks to anticipate 50 of the best non-US films which are scheduled for delivery this year, from the most rarefied arthouse titles to those with the broadest commercial ambitions.
‘Albert Nobbs’ is currently shooting in and around Dublin city and stars Glenn Close (Damages), Aaron Johnson (Nowhere Boy), Brendan Gleeson (The Guard) and Jonathan Rhys Meyers (The Tudors). The feature tells the story of a woman pretending to be a man in ultra-conservative 19th century Ireland. It is being produced by Glenn Close, Steven Spielberg's long-time producer Bonnie Curtis (Saving Private Ryan), Julie Lynn (The Jane Austen Book Club), and Alan Moloney (Neverland) for Parallel Films.
Paolo Sorrentino's This Must be the Place’ stars Sean Penn (Milk) as an ageing rock star who hunts down the Nazi responsible for his father's execution in a concentration camp. The film shot in Dublin last summer and also stars Frances McDormand (Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day), IFTA nominee Kerry Condon (The Runway) and Simon Delaney (Zonad). An Irish-Italian co-production, it was produced by Element Pictures (All Good Children, The Wind That Shakes The Barley) in Ireland and Indigo Film (Il Divo) and Lucky Red in Italy.
Saoirse Ronan’s upcoming feature ‘Hanna’ also features in the line-up and stars the Carlow born actress as a teenager raised by her ex-CIA father, played by Eric Bana (The Time Traveller’s Wife) in the wilds of Finland to be the perfect assassin. She goes on a mission, journeying across Europe and eluding agents sent by Marissa Wiegler, (played by ‘Veronica Guerin’s Cate Blanchett), a woman with secrets of her own. The film reunites Saoirse with ‘Atonement’ director, Joe Wright. It is due for release in the UK on April 8th 2011.
Finally, three films starring IFTA winner Michael Fassbender (Hunger) are included in Screen’s list. The first of these is Cary Fukunaga’s ‘Jane Eyre’ which is due to be release in the US in March 2011 with a UK release date TBC. In the period drama Michael stars alongside Mia Wasikowska (Alice in Wonderland) and Judi Dench (Iris). He also takes the role of Carl Jung in David Cronenberg’s ‘A Dangerous Method’ opposite Keira Knightley and Viggo Mornternsen. The feature is an adaptation of Christopher Hampton’s play about Sigmund Freud, his pupil Carl Jung and the birth of psychoanalysis and is due for release in late 2011.
Michael’s third upcoming film sees him reunited with his ‘Hunger’ director Steve McQueen for a feature entitled ‘Shame’ The drama tells the story of Brandon (played by Michael), a 30-something New Yorker struggling with his sex addiction who copes with the problem by reaching out to his closest allies. Carey Mulligan plays Sissy, Brandon’s troubled sister. The film is currently shooting in New York and is to be finished in December 2011.
For Screen Daily’s full list of Hot 50 Films for 2011 see http://www.screendaily.com/reports/features/the-hot-50-international-films-for-2011/5022049.article
