IRISH FILM PREVIEW 2018
CinÉireann / January 2018 97
Psychological thriller Cellar Door marks the feature fiction debut for writer/director Viko Nikci.
Racing from young love to tortured loss and back again — Cellar Door is a provocative mystery thriller. The story follows Aidie, a fighter inside and out, as she searches for her son while in the grip of the Church. The subjective perspective shifts to reveal that we have been given a deeper understanding of an issue that affects countless millions. With a unique point of view on a familiar trauma, Cellar Door cuts deep into the character’s experience— an exploration of love regained and loss relived.
The film stars Karen Hassan (Vikings), Catherine Walker (A Dark Song), Ian McElhinney (Game of Thrones), Leah McNamara (Vikings), Amber Jean Rowan (Guilt), and Mark O'Halloran (Viva).
Cellar Door is being produced by Nikci for Welcome Home Pictures and David Collins and John Wallace for Samson Films.
CELLAR DOOR
DIR: VIKO NIKCI
PRO: SAMSON FILMS
SEA FEVER
DIR: NEASA HARDIMAN
PRO: FANTASTIC FILMS
An exciting film on the radar is Neasa Hardiman's thriller Sea Fever.
The crew of a West of Ireland trawler, marooned at sea, struggle for their lives against a growing parasite in their water supply.
The script was shortlisted for the AMPAS Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting 2015. It was selected at the Frontieres Film Festival as one of 12 showcase projects, as well as at the Les Arcs Film Festival as one of 9 showcase projects, and won a prize at the London Film Awards.
Sea Fever is produced by Brendan McCarthy and John McDonnell for Fantastic Films, supported by Creative Europe and by the Irish Film Board.
KEEPERS OF
THE FLAME
DIR: NUALA O'CONNOR
PRO: SOUTH WIND BLOWS
Keepers of the Flame is a feature documentary from director Nuala O'Connor.
The film was selected for the Marketplace & Talent at Sheffield Doc/Fest in 2017.
Keepers of the Flame is produced by South Wind Blows, which was established in 2006 by filmmaker, radio-host & musican Philip King, producer and director Nuala O'Connor, and Tina Moran. The company is best know for TV series Other Voices and co-produced Pat Collins' Silence in 2011.
Venice of the North is a feature documentary from director Tom Burke.
The film tells the story of Newtok, a small village on the Ningliq River in Alaska. Erosion of the tundra by the river has destroyed much of the area of the village, causing the United States Army Corps of Engineers' to issue a report that estimated the highest point in the town, the high school, would be under water by the year 2017. This led to the decision to relocate the village's roughly 400 Yupik residents to higher ground nine miles away.
Burke has been filming in the village since 2015. Venice of the North is produced by Alan Maher for Marcie Films, with support from the Irish Film Board.
DIR: TOM BURKE
PRO: MARCIE FILMS
THE VENICE OF
THE NORTH