New Irish Comedy Feature Film ‘Grabbers’ Selected For The Sundance Film Festival
Following in the steps of THE GUARD, a new Irish comedy horror feature GRABBERS, which filmed on location in Donegal and stars Ruth Bradley (Love/Hate) and Richard Coyle (W.E., Prince of Persia), has been selected for Sundance, the most prestigious indie film festival in the US which takes place from January 19th-29th 2012.
Directed by Jon Wright from an original screenplay by Kevin Lehane, the story captures the idyll and charm of a rural Irish fishing village, as the peace of the enchanting Erin Island community is shattered by an invasion of giant squid-like creatures from the sea, known as "grabbers", who start picking off the villagers. Handsome but washed-up local policeman O'Shea (Coyle) is forced to sober up and team up with uptight, teetotal policewoman Lisa (Bradley) to protect the island's population from the tentacled, fang-jawed, barb-tongued creatures.
Commenting on the selection, producer Tracy Brimm said "The beautiful Donegal landscape is a featured character in GRABBERS and we had an extraordinary experience shooting the film in Ireland. We had a terrific team working with us and a very warm local reception.
Being invited to screen the film in Sundance is an incredible honour and we could not dream of a better platform to launch the film. We have no doubt that this will put Ireland in the spotlight and will certainly shine a light on some great Irish talent with a big future ahead of them especially screenwriter Kevin Lehane and actress Ruth Bradley."
Irish films have had a strong presence at Sundance in recent years with the Oscar winning ONCE, along with the box office hit THE GUARD and Ken Wardrop's compelling documentary HIS & HERS all receiving their international premiere there. Last year THE GUARD achieved a major US sale at the festival and HBO bought the remake rights for the Irish documentary KNUCKLE.
The film was produced by Forward Films in the UK, Samson Films in Dublin, in association with High Treason Productions, Nvizible and The Salt Company with finance from Bord Scannán na hÉireann/ Irish Film Board, the UK Film Council, High Treason, LimeLight and Northern Ireland Screen.
International sales are being handled by The Salt Company whilst Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has acquired UK rights to the project. It is expected that audiences will have an opportunity to see the film in Irish cinemas next year.
About the Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival, which was originally founded by Robert Redford is the largest independent cinema festival in the U.S., with more than 50,000 people attending screenings in Park City, Utah.