New Irish Feature THE PIER to go on Selected Release In Irish Cinemas From January 29th
Up and coming Irish film-maker Gerard Hurley combines traditional storytelling techniques and experiences gained while travelling to weave a wonderfully heart-felt story in THE PIER, which goes on selected cinema release this month.THE PIER is a delicately paced story that pits father and son against one another in a battle that is as old as humanity. While the viewer longs for reconciliation, director Gerard Hurley is a masterful storyteller and it's never quite apparent whether the two protagonists will figuratively bury the hatchet or literally bury a hatchet in one another.
Filmed in New York and in various locations in West Cork, it stars Karl Johnson, Gerard Hurley and Lili Taylor. After twenty years of no contact with his son, Larry McCarthy (Karl Johnson) pretends to be dying in order to trick his son, Jack (Gerard Hurley) into returning home to West Cork. When Jack arrives he is furious to find that his father is alive and kicking and, if anything even more furious, when he's tricked into staying.
The film has screened at festivals as far from home as the Czech Republic, where it had its world premiere at the prestigious Karlovy Vary International Film Festival and in Israel, where it played in the Jerusalem International Film Festival. THE PIER had its Irish premiere at the Galway Film Fleadh and has screened at the Corona Cork Film Festival, Thessaloniki International Film festival in Greece and Tbilisi International Film Festival in Georgia.
Produced with funding from Bord Scannán na hÉireann/the Irish Film Board (IFB), THE PIER has secured national distribution and will screen in Dublin, Cork, Kerry, Galway, Sligo and Laois in January and February.
The dates of screening are
Sunday January 29th IFI Dublin
Tuesday February 2nd Classic Listowel, Kerry
Friday February 3rd, 4th, 5th, Skibbereen Town Hall, Co Cork
Friday February 3rd - Feb 9th Eye Cinema, Galway
Saturday February 4th, 7th, 8th, 9th Park Cinema, Clonakilty, Co Cork
Sunday February 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th Cinemax Bantry, Co Cork
Sunday February 5th,6th,7th,8th Qand A on 5th Triskel Arts Centre, Cork
Monday February 6th, 7th Macroom Briary Gap, Cork
Tuesday February 7th Phoenix Cinema, Dingle, Kerry
Thursday February 9th Carrick On Shannon Multiplex,
Wednesday February 15th, 18th The Model Sligo
About Gerard Hurley
Director Gerard Hurley was born in West Cork and emigrated to Switzerland when he was sixteen to work with horses. In 1986, he emigrated to the USA to work in the oil fields in Oklahoma. Beginning in the early 1990's, he took jobs in the Camera and Art Departments of Independent Film Productions in New York and began writing scripts. He has penned 20 screenplays and sold options on those to such Hollywood heavy hitters as Stanley Tucci (Big Night, Imposters) and Charles Wessler (Something About Mary). Hurley has also worked as a script consultant on a number of features. Success as a scriptwriter led to work as a script consultant and as a director.
In 2008, Hurley wrote, directed, produced and starred in his first feature film, The Pride. It explored domestic abuse in the Irish Traveller Community in America and screened at the Woodstock Film Festival and the Irish Film Festival in Los Angeles. THE PIER is Gerard Hurley's second feature film.