Irish resident and director Steph Green - whose 2007 short ‘New Boy’ earned her an Oscar nomination - has seen her first full length feature ‘Run & Jump’ emerge from this year’s Galway Film Fleadh, with the Best Irish Feature and Best First Irish Feature.
Originally from San Francisco, Ms Green has been living in Ireland for the past 12 years and filmed ‘Run & Jump’ almost entirely in Kerry - at locations including Tralee, Dingle and the Slea Head drive.
Following screenings at New York’s Tribeca Film Festival and Galway this weekend, ‘Run & Jump’ is now strongly tipped to feature at the Toronto International Film Festival in September.
IFTN spoke to Ms Green on Saturday 13th July, a few hours before the film’s Galway screening which she attended with writer Ailbhe Keogan and assorted cast members to a rapturous audience response.
‘Run & Jump’ follows Irish mother Venetia, played by Maxine Peaks, who struggles to hold her family together when her husband Conor (Edward MacLiam) has a stroke which alters his personality and alienates his family.
The situation is further complicated by American neuroscientist Ted (‘Saturday Night Live’ and ‘30 Rock’ veteran Will Forte) who moves in with the family on a research grant to study Conor’s behaviour - and finds himself unexpectedly drawn to Venetia.
In parallel to this, eldest son Lenny (Brendan Morris) must come to terms with his sexuality while contending with homophobic bullying by other boys on the swimming team…
Ms Green, ‘Run & Jump’ received very positive reviews from critics at Tribeca in New York, which must be very gratifying. What does it feel like to finally get the chance to show the film to an Irish audience at the Galway Film Fleadh? I’m nervous but in the right way! The reaction at Tribeca was wonderful but I’m very excited to show the film to Irish audiences. It’s very much an Irish film - it’s by an Irish writer Ailbhe Keogan and stars Irish actors. We had great audiences in New York and they were very receptive. I think the performances in the film are pretty irresistible so hopefully people in Galway will be moved. I will be attending the screening tonight with my knees shaking!
‘Run & Jump’ is a mixture of genres with romantic, comedy and dramatic elements that touch on some serious issues like the after-effects of suffering a stroke. Would you consider the combination of different characters and themes as key to the film’s appeal? I think it’s a world and you’re brought into the world of this family. The performances and the characters are hard to resist. If you like the movie it’s because you’ve connected with those characters and you’re enjoying watching them going through a unique experience.
Is that what drew you to the project when you first read the screenplay- that the characters jumped out at you? Yes, absolutely - the idiosyncratic well rounded characters created by Ailbhe Keoghan. But also - and I think Ailbhe and I both agree on this – we were interested in telling a story that was not about a miraculous recovery from a brain injury but about those affected when someone has a brain injury. We wanted to look at the family’s side of it, which isn’t really told that often.
Do you have any more projects in the pipeline or any plans to shoot more films in Ireland in the near future? Oh, definitely. I hope so. There are a couple of scripts and other projects I’m developing with Ailbhe, and I’m meeting with other Irish writers. I’m also writing myself and I’ve optioned a few books. So I’m trying to nurture projects both here and in the States.
Can you tell us what the shoot was like in Kerry last year? It was filmed in Tralee, in Dingle, along the Slea Head Drive, and the house itself was filmed in Wicklow. But the family lives in Kerry and it’s a totally Irish film. Our premiere today in Galway is a year to the day since we wrapped filming on 13th July 2012. We were all in the pub celebrating that night! The shoot took about 26 days, over five weeks, in the rain and terrible weather. It was a pretty bad summer last year, in July. We had to put our coats on between shots and then take them off for filming. We really could have used this nice weather a year ago!
How important do you feel the Galway Film Fleadh is for the Irish film industry? Extremely important because although it feels international and people flock to it, part of the reason they do so is because it’s so supportive of the Irish filmmaking community and it’s like coming home. There’s such a great welcome and no pretension. There are no airs and yet really high quality product. Miriam Allen and Gar O’Brien are not interested in the buzz and are just looking to find films they’re passionate about. So I can’t say enough good things about Galway. You could be a megastar or someone who just wants to enjoy the festival for the first time, and you’re treated exactly the same here.
‘Run & Jump’ is an Irish/German co-production between Samson Films and Bavaria Pictures, produced by Tamara Anghie; executive produced by David Collins and Martina Niland; and co-produced by Astrid Kahmke and Philipp Kreuzer.
