‘Traders’, the debut feature by Rachael Moriarty and Peter Murphy, produced by Coco with funding from the IFB, has won the 7th Orbit Award at the Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival. This jury award recognises work that is radical, innovative and controversial.
‘Traders’ hit Irish cinemas in March and received acclaim from publications such as The Irish Times who described it as an “impressive blood-soaked debut” while The Guardian called the film “an ingenious and macabre debut”. Moriarty and Murphy have earned Irish Screen America Rising Star Awards for their work on the film. It also won an Audience Award at the Belfast Film Festival.
‘Traders’ is a violent, satirical thriller which tells the story of a high roller laid low. Harry Fox joins a sinister Deep Web game with violent real world consequences, invented by the guy he used to call to fix his IT problems, Vernon Stynes.
Starring Killian Scott (‘Calvary’, ’71’), John Bradley (‘Game of Thrones’) and Peter O’Meara (‘Love/Hate’), ‘Traders’ was written and directed by Rachael Moriarty and Peter Murphy and produced by Stuart Switzer, Libby Durdy and Rachel Lysaght with Rory Gilmartin as Executive Producer for the Irish Film Board.
Speaking to IFTN about the film’s success, producer Stuart Switzer said: “It’s always a thrill to see an audience enjoy the dark comedy of ‘Traders’. Belfast and Brussels were real highlights and we’re very grateful to jury members and audiences for giving the film this recognition. Good reviews and awards such as these are really strong endorsements for a debut feature and mean a lot.”
‘Traders’ is being distributed in the UK by Element Pictures, with Switzer stating that the film has secured a sales agent and distributor in the US.
Check out our interview with actor Peter O’Meara about the film here.