Five Irish Films to Screen at the Top SXSW Festival
Hot from its world premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival, Kirsten Sheridan's DOLLHOUSE is set to have its North American premiere at South by Southwest (SXSW) in Austin, Texas this month and will join the feature film CITADEL, the documentary DREAMS OF A LIFE and the short films FOXES and JOY in the Irish official selections at the festival.
DOLLHOUSE will screen in the Emerging Visions section of the festival. The film explores a night in the life of a group of street teens from Dublin's inner city who break into an upper class house in Dalkey. The break-in quickly moves into a night of frenzy, driven by a series of revelations that will leave lasting marks on each of them, and resulting in a emotional conclusion that they will carry with them. The film screened in the Panorama section of the Berlin International Film Festival last month.
Irish/Scottish co-production CITADEL, the psychological horror debut from talented Irish writer - director Ciarán Foy will have its world premiere at SXSW as part of the Midnighters section of the festival. Blurring the boundary between real-life experiences and a darker fictional world, CITADEL which stars Aneurin Barnard is an unsettling, original and powerful story - an agoraphobic father teams up with a renegade priest to save his daughter from the clutches of a gang of twisted feral children.
Following its successful cinema run in the IFI cinema last month, DREAMS OF A LIFE written and directed by Carol Morley and starring Zawe Ashton will have its North American premiere in the Festival Favourites section of SXSW. The documentary tells the intriguing story of a young woman Joyce Vincent discovered in a London flat three years after her death and is a quest to discover who she was, and how she came to be so forgotten.
Lorcan Finnegan's short film FOXES which was written by Garret Shanley and Colm Quinn's short drama JOY will screen in the Narrative Shorts section of the festival. FOXES tells the tale of a young couple trapped in a remote estate of empty houses and shrieking foxes are beckoned from their isolation into a twilight world, a world of the paranormal or perhaps insanity. JOY tells the story of Nicola, a 16-year old girl, in hospital after giving birth. When her best friend Tess visits, she must reluctantly introduce her newborn daughter who only lived for a short time.
SXSW, renowned for discovering new talent and trailblazers will run from March 9th -18th.
MORE ABOUT DOLLHOUSE
DOLLHOUSE, shot during 2011 in Dublin and funded by Bord Scannán na hÉireann/the Irish Film Board and Lightstream Pictures, is Kirsten Sheridan's first film as writer and director - it marks her third feature film as director. Provocative and challenging, the film is scheduled for theatrical release in Ireland before summer 2012. It is the first release from The Factory, a
Dublin-based creative filmmaking collective. The film was produced by John Wallace, and stars Seana Kerslake, Johnny Ward, Shane Curry, Kate Stanley Brennan, Ciaran McCabe and Jack Reynor.
MORE ABOUT CITADEL
CITADEL features Aneurin Barnard (We'll Take Manhattan, Ironclad, Hunky Dory, Elfie Hopkins and The Gammons, Screen International Rising Star) in the lead role of Tommy, alongside Scotland's finest, James Cosmo (Braveheart, Troy, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, The Runway, and his Scottish BAFTA winning performance in Donkeys ) in the role of The Priest, and Wunmi Mosuka (I am Slave, One Night in Emergency and Stephen Poliakoff's Dancing on the Edge) as Marie. Co-stars include Ingrid Craigie and Amy Shiels.
CITADEL is a Blinder Film and Sigma Films co-production and is produced by Katie Holly (Blinder Films) and Brian Coffey (Sigma Films). Executive producers are Gillian Berrie, Kieron J. Walsh and David Mackenzie. The film was funded by the Bord Scannán na hÉireann/the Irish Film Board, Creative Scotland, Section 481 and UK Tax Credit.
MORE ABOUT DREAMS OF A LIFE
Partly shot in Dublin, DREAMS OF A LIFE was written and directed by Carol Morley. It was produced by James Mitchell, Cairo Cannon and Rachel Lysaght for Soho Moon Pictures and Camp with funding from the IFB, Film4, BFI and Shoot for the Moon.
FOXES, which was produced by Brunella Cocchiglia for Lovely Productions as part of the IFB Signatures Short Film Scheme, scooped the Philips Short Film Award at the IFTA's last weekend. Director Lorcan Finnegan previously directed the IFB Virtual Cinema short Invention of the Lightbulb and the IFB Short Short Changes.
MORE ABOUT JOY
Winner of the Filmbase/RTÉ short film award, JOY stars Jane McGrath (Pure Mule), IFTA nominee Aoife Duffin (Behold The Lamb) and Derbhle Crotty (Notes on a Scandal). It was shot by Director of Photography, Kate McCullough (His & Hers) and produced by Emmet Fleming and Neil Wallace for Venom Film
MORE ABOUT SXSW FILM AND CONFERENCE FESTIVAL
The SXSW® Film Conference and Festival features a dynamic convergence of talent, smart audiences and industry leaders in a uniquely creative environment. A hotbed of discovery and interactivity, the event offers invaluable networking opportunities and immersion into the art and business of independent film. The Film Conference buzzes with world-class speakers, creatives and innovators in a productive social atmosphere. Simultaneously the internationally acclaimed Film Festival program celebrates raw innovation and emerging talent, featuring provocative documentaries, comedies, genre standouts and more.