IRISH FILM PREVIEW 2018
CinÉireann / January 2018 99
Soul Hunter is the story of an idealistic young man seeking adventure in Siberia who finds a home among an indigenous tribe. Angered at their exploitation by criminals who govern the fur trade he ignites a dangerous revolution. Forced to flee into the frozen wilderness, he must embrace the tribe’s shamanic beliefs to survive.
Based on a true story, the script is written by Glenn Montgomery and will be directed by Danish director Andreas Dalsgaard, who is best known as a documentary filmmaker and director of The Human Scale.
Soul Hunter is to be produced by Savage Productions. Savage Productions has worked with him before when they co-produced the documentary Life is Sacred.
The film was recently selected for the Berlinale Co-Production Market.
SOUL HUNTER
DIR: ANDREAS DALSGAARD
PRO: SAMSON FILMS
VIVARIUM
DIR: LORCAN FINNEGAN
PRO: FANTASTIC FILMS
Without Name director Lorcan Finnegan's next feature film is a thriller called Vivarium.
Mackenzie Davis will play a young woman who, along with her fiancé, follow a strange estate agent into a new development to look at a house. The development is brand new but completely devoid of life, and when they attempt to leave they soon find that they can’t find their way out of the maze of houses.
Vivarium is written by Garret Shanley, who worked with Finnegan on Without Name and short Foxes.
Vivarium is being produced by Brendan McCarthy and John McDonnell for Fantastic Films, with Belgium’s Frakas Productions co-producing, and XYZ executive producing and handling sales. It is supported by Irish Film Board.
TRAUTMANN
DIR: MARCUS H. ROSENMULLER
PRO: ZEPHYR FILMS
Trautmann is the story of the life of former Man City German goalkeeper Bert Trautmann.
Trautmann, joined the Wehrmacht at the age of 17 and was awarded five medals for bravery by Hitler. Captured by the British towards the end of the War, he arrived in England as a prisoner of war. An English football manager noticed Bernd’s exceptional talent as a goalkeeper. His subsequent signing by Man City brought passionate protests from the people of Manchester, which had been severely bombed in the War. Against all odds, Bert Trautmann would eventually win over the hearts of his adopted country.
Trautmann, which funded by Northern Ireland Screen via Invest NI, is the first English-language feature film by multi-award winning German director Marcus H. Rosenmueller (Grave Decisions) who also co-wrote the script.
With her son being held captive by a criminal gang, police-officer Amanda Doyle, together with her ex-husband and three unlikely allies, takes part in a desperate plot to hold a wealthy banker and his family to ransom. But this is no ordinary family.
The film stars Cormac Melia (Vikings), Patrick Murphy (Gridlock), Sam Lucas Smith (Waterloo Road), Sinead O'Riordan (Dead Along the Way), Sue Walsh (The Lost City of Z), Jeff Doyle (Jack and Ralph Plan a Murder), Saoirse Long (Skeleton Krew), Johnny Elliott (The Legend of Harry and Ambrose), Tom Naughten, and Andrew Murray (Who's There?).
Quintin Ahern, Paul Bushe, Lorcan Kavanagh, and Brian O'Neill produce, with executive producers Roger Courtney and Sean Walsh. DoP is Philip Graham, with Alan Joyce on sound, and music from Jerome Leroy.
DIR: PAUL BUSHE & BRIAN O'nEILL
PRO: FEVER KID FILMS
KILLERS WITHIN