Irish producers have been busy negotiating a number of international deals at this year’s Cannes Film Festival and Film Market.
Firstly, Northern Irish director Mary McGuckian, director of ‘Best’ and the Irish co-production ‘Man on the Train’, has attached Shannyn Sossamon (Mistresses, The End of Love, A Knights Tale), Alanis Morissette and Swiss actor Vincent Perez (Butterfly Kiss) to star in her upcoming film ‘The Price of Desire’. The film is a romantic period drama based on the life of architect Eileen Gray, and the film is the latest production to take advantage of the latest Kickstarter craze.
A large portion of the film takes place in Gray’s authentic French villa, one of the first homes she designed; and as producers are planning on shooting the film there, they have launched a Kickstarter campaign to help restore the home with re-created Parisian interiors. Production designer Anne Seibel, who earned an Oscar nomination for her work on ‘Midnight in Paris’ is currently in preparation to create the home’s aesthetic.
‘The Price of Desire’ is an Irish-Belgian co-production between EG Film Productions Limited, Pembridge Pictures, and Lightstream Pictures, in association with Windmill Lane Pictures in Ireland and Saga Film in Belgium. Entertainment One is on board to release the pic in France and Canada.
Elsewhere, Irish production company Treasure Films (I Went Down, The Eclipse, The Stag) have announced details on their new Irish film ‘Wild’, with all international rights on the film being sold to Radiant Films Inc. The film is set to star Emma Greenwell (US Shameless, True Blood) and Tom Hughes (Cemetery Junction, The Lady Vanishes). It tells the story of Mary Reynolds, a visionary young garden designer who puts everything on the line in order to compete in the Chelsea Flower show. Funded by the IFB, RTÉ, and the BAI, ‘Wild’ will shoot in Ireland and Ethiopia over the coming months.
In other news, Academy Award® nominee director Ruairí Robinson's debut feature sci-fi film ‘The Last Days on Earth’ will have its world premiere as part of the prestigious Director's Fortnight section today.
Starring American actor Liev Schrieber (The Manchurian Candidate, Defiance), Ramola Garai (Inside I’m Dancing, Amazing Grace), and Olivia Williams (An Education, Anna Karenina), ‘Last Days on Mars’ is a science-fiction thriller in which a group of astronaut explorers succumb one by one to a mysterious and terrifying force while collecting specimens on Mars. The film is produced by Fantastic Films and Qwerty Films with the Irish Film Board funding. A total of 23 feature films will screen as part of the Director’s Fortnight line-up, which is non-competitive, but debut films - including ‘Last Days on Mars’- are eligible for the Camera d’Or prize.
This year there are over 20 Irish films screening and selling in the Cannes market including romantic comedy ‘Standby’, directed by Ronan and Rob Burke starring Mad Men actress Jessica Pare along with Brian Gleeson. ‘Run & Jump’ directed by newcomer Steph Green, which had its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival, will also screen at this year’s festival
Other big Irish productions screening at Cannes include ‘Life’s a Breeze’, starring Pat Shortt and directed by Lance Daly; ‘The Stag’ starring Amy Huberman, Hugh O'Conor and Andrew Scott; and Lenny Abrahamson’s highly anticipated ‘Frank’, starring Michael Fassbender, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and rising star Domhnall Gleeson.
