Irish director Stephen Bradley’s ‘Noble’ has won the top Jury prize, the Panavision Spirit Award for Independent Cinema, at the 29th Annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival.
The UK/Irish production stars Deirdre O’Kane (Moone Boy), Brendan Coyle (Downton Abbey), Liam Cunningham (Game of Thrones), Ruth Negga (World War Z) and Sarah Greene (The Guard).
Written and directed by Bradley, the film had its World Premiere at the festival on January 31st in the Independent Competition section. ‘Noble’ tells the true story of a funny, feisty and courageous Irishwoman, Christina Noble, who overcomes a harsh childhood to find her destiny on the streets of Saigon, fourteen years after the end of the war. The film captures the drama of a life that has culminated in Christina Noble helping almost a million street-children and their families in Vietnam and Mongolia.
This year's festival was attended by the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio, Martin Scorsese, Robert Redford, Oprah Winfrey and Cate Blanchett.
Produced by Melanie Gore-Grimes and executive produced by Michael J. Hunt, ‘Noble’ was shot on widescreen 35mm and filmed in Vietnam, Liverpool and Cumbria.
Nick Laws (production manager on ‘War Horse’, ‘Blood Diamond’, ‘Constant Gardener’) serves as line producer. The director of photography is Trevor Forrest, winner of the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival award for Best Cinematographer (‘Una Noche’,‘Grabbers’). Other key department heads include editor Mags Arnold, costume designer Charlotte Walter, hair and make-up designer Marese Langan, and composers Giles Martin and Ben Foster.
Speaking at the festival in Santa Barbara, Bradley said: “I now look forward to sharing Christina Noble’s extraordinary story with as many people as possible.”
Bradley is now scheduled to direct his own screenplay ‘The Unknown Soldier’ starring Golden Globe nominee Cillian Murphy. He is also writing a comedy feature called ‘The High Five’.
For more information on ‘Noble’ click here
