The Irish-language film “Kneecap” is set to have a history-making premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on Thursday, January 18.
"Kneecap" has the dual distinction of being the first Irish language film to be selected for Sundance, as well as the first non-US film to ever be selected for the festival’s NEXT section.
The day before the Irish language film’s premiere at Sundance, the Dublin-based Wildcard Distribution shared the latest sneak peek at the new movie.
In the (subtitled) Irish language scene, two of Kneecap’s members are presented with the idea of creating hip-hop music in Irish.
Smashing the glass and setting the dodo free!
KNEECAP premieres tomorrow at the @sundancefest - the festivals first Irish language feature.
Check out this sneak peak from the film?@KNEECAPCEOL #Sundance pic.twitter.com/krPCLBEOPE
— Wildcard Distribution (@WildCardDistrib) January 17, 2024
Kneecap confirmed back in December that their semi-autobiographical film would be having its premiere at Sundance.
Based on the origin story of the riotous and ground-breaking Irish-language rap trio Kneecap, the film stars the band’s Mo Chara, Móglaí Bap, and DJ Próvaí in their acting debuts alongside Michael Fassbender, Simone Kirby, and Josie Walker.
Set in west Belfast in 2019, "Kneecap" chronicles how fate brings the trio together and how they then go on to “change the sound of Irish music forever."
The film is writer/director Rich Peppiatt’s first live-action feature following his award-winning satirical documentary "One Rogue Reporter."
"I think the Irish film industry is in the ascendancy," Peppiatt told BBC NI ahead of the film's Sundance premiere, which comes less than a year after another Irish language film, "The Quiet Girl" ("An Cailín Ciúin"), was feted at the Oscars.
"It's right up there - there's a real desire to do the best work and push boundaries here," Peppiatt added.
Kneecap themselves are no strangers to pushing boundaries. Variety reported on Wednesday that the trio, who is also performing a gig in Park City during the film festival, is "shipping over a fully kitted-out Northern Irish police van like the one in their infamous mural."
Peppiatt admitted that it was possible the van would be set on fire: “Quite possibly — there’s no plan to send it back!”
Kneecap unveiled this mural in Belfast in August 2022.
Speaking with BBC NI, group member Móglaí Bap said: "There's a lot of playfulness and a lot fun and craic, if you're offended by it then you're just not getting the joke."
He continued: "It's very easy for politicians to go to a paper and give a quote about what they think we're doing, we didn't establish sectarianism and we're not fuelling it either.
"We're not creating art for controversy's sake, we live in a place where people are quite easily offended by certain topics.
"We don't set out for that, it's the same thing when you're speaking the Irish language in the north, that it's [perceived as] some sort of political statement.
"But we're just trying to build a youth culture around the language."
"Kneecap" is set to be released in Irish cinemas by Wildcard and Curzon in 2024, while US distribution will be considered after its world premiere.
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