Olympia Films’ ‘Obama’s Irish Roots’ has just signed a worldwide distribution deal with Camelot Distribution. The docu-drama, shot in 2010/11 in Ireland and America and traces Obama’s family tree back to his Moneygall roots.
‘Obama’s Irish Roots’ is a feature length documentary project which stars Sharon O’Donnell, David Grant and Fergus Kealy. The film seeks to trace President Barack Obama’s ancestry along his maternal heritage from Moneygall to his mother’s home of Kansas. The feature shot in Offaly, Kilkenny, Ohio and Indiana.
The idea for ‘Obama’s Irish Roots’, written and directed by Gabriel Murray, came about following the discovery of President Obama’s Irish heritage. The Corrigans, who enjoyed a youtube hit with their single ‘There’s no-one as Irish as Barack Obama’, provide the soundtrack for the documentary and Anthony Kelly acts as both director of photography and film editor for the docu-drama. Marketing has just begun for territorial sales of the film which will have its US premiere at the Hampton Black International Film Festival which runs from the 2nd to the 5th of September. The docu-drama's worldwide distribution rights were bought by L.A. distribution group, Camelot Distribution. The documentary was produced by Gabriel Murray and co producer, Don McGuinness of Olympia Films. Co funding was raised by Yvette Hoyle of Coppola Productions-U.K.
In further Obama news, over a million people tuned in to RTÉ’s live coverage of US President, Barack Obama’s address from College Green in Dublin on Monday, May 23rd. The audience reached a peak of over 1.1m people at 6:38pm on RTÉ One as President Obama began his speech. The President’s address was preceded by a concert featuring Sharon Shannon, Ryan Sheridan and Westlife, interspersed with readings from Irish actors Gabriel Byrne (In Treatment), Saoirse Ronan (Hanna), Brendan Gleeson (Into the Storm), Daniel Day Lewis (Nine) and Stephen Rea (Father and Son) and appearances from sporting heroes such as Katie Taylor and Brian O’Driscoll.
The afternoon concert which started at 5:00pm boasted an average of over 600,000 viewers according to Nielsen. Earlier in the day, an average of 285,000 people watched on RTÉ One as the President and First Lady, Michelle Obama, landed in Air Force One at Dublin Airport just before 9:30am. Finally, the Nine O'Clock News' coverage of the visit had an average viewership of 778,000.
