Announced at the Berlin EFM, Wildcard Distribution has acquired the UK and Ireland rights to dramas ‘Run & Jump’ and ‘Love Eternal’. It was also announced that ‘Run & Jump’, which is currently on release in America and for which IFC owns the US rights, will see its Irish release on May 2nd. The Dublin premiere for the film is taking place at JDIFF.
Directed by Steph Green and shot in Kerry, ‘Run & Jump’ sees an American doctor (played by Will Forte) stay with a family where the father (Ed MacLiam) has suffered a life-changing stroke which leaves the mother of the family (Maxine Peake) struggling to cope. The film is co-written by Green and Ailbhe Keoghan and has won several awards on the festival circuit.
Speaking about the release, Steph Green said, ‘We're delighted that after the warm reception on the Irish festival circuit, ‘Run & Jump’ will now release in cinemas for the Irish public. It was wonderful to work with a script that was written to be set in Kerry. Spending time in Kerry writing with Ailbhe was important as it grounded me into the environment and characters. To then come back and shoot in the region, with such support locally, was a tremendous experience to have and one that I will long treasure.’
The latest feature of Brendan Muldowney, whose previous feature ‘Savage’ was an IFTA winner, called ‘Love Eternal’ was also picked up by Wildcard. Based on the Japanese novel ‘In Love with the Dead’, the feature follows a lonely, death-obsessed young man who tries to make sense of the world by venturing closer to death. It stars Polyanna McIntosh, Robert de Hoog and Amanda Ryan.
Established in early 2013, Wildcard’s credits already include ‘Life’s a Breeze’ starring Pat Shortt, award-winning ‘The Summit’, Rebecca Daly’s ‘The Other Side of Sleep’, documentary ‘The Swell Season’ and animation ‘Moon Man’. They also picked up Dublin skateboard documentary ‘Hill Street’ at the EFM.
‘Run & Jump’ was produced by Tamara Anghie, Martina Niland, Astrid Kahmke and Philipp Kreuzer for Samson Films and Bavaria Film. It was funded by the Irish Film Board, Eurimages, Broadcasting Authority of Ireland, RTÉ, Bavaria Pictures, DFFF, FFF Bayern, Senator Film München, Cine Postproduction.
‘Love Eternal’ was produced by Conor Barry, Morgan Bushe and Macdara Kelleher for Fastnet Films, and also by Manami Fukawa, Takeichi Honda, and Yui Shibata. Funded by the IFB, the film was supported by production companies Atlantic Screen Music, Fastnet Films, Red Lion Sarl, Rinkel Film and T.O. Entertainment.