The Irish Pavilion, managed by the Irish Film Board, will form the central meeting point for over 150 Irish delegates flying out to the Cannes Film Festival this week with the aim of selling their films to international financiers and distributers.
It will open this Wednesday 15th May at 1pm, at the Festival International du Film, Village International Esplanade Georges Pompidou, 06400 Cannes.
As well as hosting the Irish delegation at Cannes, the Irish Pavilion aims to actively promote Irish film on the international stage and Ireland as a filming location for international productions.
Representing the Irish Film Board this year are CEO James Hickey, Head of Business Affairs Teresa McGrane, Production & Distribution Executive Emma Scott; Project Managers Rory Gilmartin, Mary Callery and Keith Potter; Marketing and Communications Executive Louise Ryan; and Marketing Executive Mags O'Sullivan.
Among the Irish films screening and selling will be Tribeca Film Festival hit ‘Run & Jump’; Lenny Abrahamson’s ‘Frank’ starring Michael Fassbender; Pat Shortt’s ‘Life’s A Breeze’; ‘The Stag’ starring Amy Huberman and Andrew Scott; and ‘Love Eternal’, directed by Brendan Muldowney.
Irish director Ruairí Robinson - Oscar nominated in 2002 for animated short ‘Fifty Percent Grey’ – will see his new sci-fi epic ‘Last Days on Mars’ premiere as part of the Director's Fortnight, making it eligible for the Camera d’Or prize outside the main competition.
The plot follows astronaut Vincent (Liev Schreiber) as he leads his crew on an exploratory mission to Mars which accidentally awakens deadly colonies of bacteria preserved within the planet’s ice.
Producers John McDonnell and Brendan McCarthy will both be representing Fantastic Films at Cannes this year, with Mr McCarthy taking the time to speak to IFTN this week prior to his departure.
‘2013 year is our big success story with ‘Last Days on Mars’ being selected for Directors Fortnight,’ he said. ‘Cannes is one of the largest film markets in the world with the opportunity to meet an extraordinary diversity of film professionals. We tend to focus on sales agents, distributors and potential co-producers who have an interest in sci-fi and horror films.’
Mr McCarthy added that other upcoming films on their slate which they hope to attract interest in are ‘Cherry Tree’, to be directed by David Keating (‘Wake Wood’) and ‘Let Us Prey’ a co-production with Makar Production, directed by Brian O’Malley and starring Game of Thrones’ Liam Cunningham.
'Cherry Tree', which is currently in pre-production, is the tale of a teenager who agrees to have Satan’s child in order to save the life of her dying father, and will form part of Fantastic Films' three-picture deal with the MPI Media Group in the US.
Octagon Films will be represented this year by James Flynn and Juanita Wilson, with the intention of attracting interest in their feature film projects from the US market.
The Bray-based production company have had many Cannes success stories over the years including key financial meetings that happened during or straight after Cannes including ‘Inside I’m Dancing’, ‘As if I am Not There’ and ‘H3’.
Other films selling this year at Cannes include ‘The Swansong of Eliza Lynch’ directed by Alan Gilsenan (Coco Productions); ‘Where I Am’ directed by Pamela Drynan (Subotica); ‘Calvary’ directed by John Michael McDonagh (Protagonist Pictures); ‘The Summit’ The Summit directed by Nick Ryan (Submarine Entertainment)’; Song of the Sea’ directed by Tomm Moore (Cartoon Saloon); and ‘Black Ice’ directed by Johnny Gogan (Bandit Films).
For a full list of Irish films screening and selling, click here.
The Irish pavilion opening hours for the duration of the festival are as follows:
Wednesday May 15th 13.00 - 18.00
Thursday May 16th 9.30 - 18.00
Friday May 17th 9.30 - 16.30
Saturday May 18th 9.30 - 17.00
Sunday May 19th 9.00 - 18.00
Monday May 20th 9.00 - 18.00
Tuesday May 21st 9.30 - 18.00
Wednesday May 22nd 9.30 - 18.00
Thursday May 23rd 9.30 - 18.00
