‘Jimmy’s Hall’, Ken Loach’s new film about Irish socialist Jim Gralton and the hall he used as a political rallying point in 1932, is now filming in Leitrim and Sligo and will be released in 2014.
Theatre actor Barry Ward (‘The Plough and the Stars’) will play the title role of Gralton - the only Irishman ever to be deported by the Irish Government in 1933 - alongside actress Simone Kirby (‘Pure Mule’) and IFTA-winning actor Andrew Scott (‘Sherlock’).
The screenplay is written by Loach and Paul Laverty who previously collaborated on Irish Civil War drama ‘The Wind That Shakes the Barley’, which won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 2006.
‘Jimmy’s Hall’ takes place in 1932 when Jimmy re-opens the hall after returning from New York, a decade after the events of ‘The Wind That Shakes the Barley’.
Producer Rebecca O’Brien told Screen Daily that this may in fact be Loach’s final feature.
‘This is probably the last narrative feature for Ken. There are a few documentary ideas kicking around, and that will probably be the way to go, but this is a serious period-drama with a lot of moving parts so it's a big thing to put together. I think we should go out while we're on top,’ Ms O’Brien said.
Other cast members include Jim Norton (‘Water for Elephants’); Brían O’Byrne (‘Mildred Pierce’); Sorcha Fox; Aisling Franciosi; Karl Geary; Denise Gough; Aileen Henry; Seamus Hughes; Martin Lucey; Francis Magee; Conor McDermottroe; Mikel Murfi and Shane O’Brien.
‘Jimmy’s Hall’ is a Sixteen Films, Element Pictures, Why Not Productions and Wild Bunch production, supported by the Irish Film Board, BFI and Film4.
Principal photography began on 8th August and will continue for seven weeks on location in Ireland.
