IRISH FILM PREVIEW 2018
CinÉireann / January 2018 95
ON THE RADAR
Trish McAdam's The End of Romance is based on the life of Maud Gonne and WB Yeats in the period 1916-1918.
The film centres on the Bohemian revolutionary Maud Gonne, the visionary poet WB Yeats, and Maud's impulsive 21 year old daughter, Iseult, in an artistic and politically eccentric mother-daughter triangle of romance. Set against the backdrop of the First World War in France and the 1916 uprising in Ireland, this is a tangled story which explores the psychology and emotions of this falling apart, the end of romance for them all.
The film received funding from the Irish Film Board and Creative Europe - Media.
THE END OF ROMANCE
DIR: TRISH MCADAM
PRO: FLEMING CREATIVE
HIGHWAY
DIR: ALEXANDRA MCGUINNESS
PRO: RIPPLE WORLD PICTURES
Irish writer/director Alexandra McGuinness’ latest feature Highway is a road movie, shot on location in New Mexico, and sees a small-town diner waitress searching across the desert for her missing best friend/rodeo queen who has disappeared with a mysterious stranger. Along the way she digs up secrets and encounters the violence of life on the road.
The film stars Eiza Gonzalez (Baby Driver) and Lucy Fry (Wolf Creek) in the lead roles, with support from Sheila Vand (Argo), Josh Hartnett (Penny Dreadful), Christian Camargo (The Hurt Locker), Christopher Jordan Wallace (Everything Must Go), and Irish actress Antonia Campbell Hughes (The Canal). Gareth Munden, who worked with McGuinness on her feature debut Lotus Eaters, is DoP, with music from composer David Harrington, and editing by Mairead McIvor (Pilgrimage).
END OF SENTENCE
DIR: ELFAR ADALSTEINS
PRO: SAMSON FILMS
Elfar Adalsteins' directorial debut End of Sentence is a road movie, that sees Logan Lerman play an ex-con and son of John Hawkes’ uptight, but well-intentioned, father. Together the pair embark on a road trip from Alabama to Ireland to scatter the ashes of their late mother and wife. Irish star Sarah Bolger plays a hitchhiker they pick up along the way.
End of Sentence, which is written by Michael Armbruster, will be shot on location in Ireland later this month. David Collins produces from Samson Films, with Adalsteins and Gudrun Edda Thorhannesdottir for Berserk Films, and Joni Sighvatsson for Palomar Pictures. Eva Maria Daniels and Olga Segura serves as executive producers.
THE FAVOURITE
DIR: YORGOS LANTHIMOS
PRO: ELEMENT PICTURES
The Favourite is Greek director Yorgos Lanthinmos' third collaboration with Dublin-based Element Pictures. It is based on a screenplay by Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara.
The film is a historical drama charting the political machinations and balance of power behind the scenes during the reign of Queen Anne, the last monarch of the House of Stuarts. The story takes place between the end of the 17th century and first years of the 18th century, when Anne reigned from 1702-1707. Queen Anne's (Olivia Colman) close confidante Sarah (Rachel Weisz) jockeys for position and influence with Abigail Masham (Emma Stone), an impoverished, distant relative of Sarah's, who has gained a position at court tending to the Queen.
Ceci Dempsey of Scarlet Films and Ed Guiney and Lee Magiday of Element Pictures produce, Executive producers are Element's Andrew Lowe, Ken Kao for Waypoint Entertainment, and Daniel Battsek and Rose Garnett for Film4.