Michael Legge, Hugh O'Conor, Peter McDonald, Andrew Scott, Andrew Bennett and Brian Gleeson in The Bachelor Weekend.
Ireland comes back to the Tribeca Film Festival with two feature films and three shorts showing this week.
Niall McKay, executive director of Irish Film New York told the Irish Voice, “This is an exciting time for Irish film. We are seeing a new generation of commercially minded Irish directors developing films that will do very well in the U.S.”
First up is "The Bachelor Weekend," a comedy that has become the highest grossing Irish movie in Ireland this year.
“It's funny, clever and quirky and explores the new character types in Irish society,” says McKay. “But it's universal in its theme and I believe will appeal to a large U.S. audience after it premieres here.”
"The Bachelor Weekend" is a comedy about a groom-to-be who reluctantly agrees to go on a camping trip before his wedding. But when his fiancée’s alpha-male brother turns up all hell breaks loose – and the leisurely weekend in the great outdoors takes a dramatic turn for the worse.
The cast includes Andrew Scott, Hugh O’Conor, Brian Gleeson and Amy Huberman, and the filmmakers will attend the festival this week.
Next comes "The Canal," a psychological thriller and ghost story from indie director Ivan Kavanagh.
Rupert Evans plays David, a film archivist who worries his wife is cheating on him. It doesn’t help when he learns that the home they share was once the scene of a brutal turn-of-the-century murder. Cue paranoia, suspicion and unsettling weirdness.
“David can’t help but suspect the dark spirits of the house are somehow involved,” says McKay. “In his drive to unveil them he descends into insanity, threatening the lives of those around him.” Buckle up, folks.
“There’s also a number of shorts in this year’s Irish lineup that I believe will do very well in the U.S. including the award winning Irish language short "Ruby" ("Rubai" in Irish) which won the best short at the Galway Film Fleadh last year,” says McKay. “It’s about a seven-year-old atheist making her First Holy Communion and her dilemma of reconciling her beliefs with her communities.”
In "Ruby," as the young girl’s class prepares for their First Communions, the spirited eight-year-old flatly refuses. She informs her peers she’s an atheist and she soon faces the emotional blackmail and overt intolerance that’s hidden underneath today’s supposedly diverse modern Ireland.
The film was directed by Louise Ni Fhiannachta and written by Antoin Beag O’Colla. The cast includes Doireann Ni Fhoighil, Bridin Nic Dhonncha, Dara Devaney and Donncha Crowley.
Irish films and TV shows are now finding an exciting new audience here via video on demand (VOD) says McKay. "The Bachelor Weekend" joins Irish TV shows like "Love/Hate" and "Moone Boy," all of which are doing well on new digital delivery platforms like iTunes, Amazon, Netflix and Hulu Plus.
The short film "Incident Urbain" (another Tribeca premiere) follows two enigmatic figures apparently bound by some mysterious revolutionary past. On a Parisian esplanade they engage in an intense conversation concerning cinema, revolutionary politics and the architecture surrounding them, with possible catastrophic consequences. It is directed and written by John Lalor.
"The Bachelor Weekend" will screen on Wednesday, April 23 at 7 p.m. at Bow Tie Cinemas, Chelsea 5, 260 West 23rd Street. It will also be screened on Thursday, April 24 at 1 p.m. at AMC Loews Village 7, 66 Third Avenue. The final screening will be held on Sunday, April 27 at 9 p.m. at AMC Loews Village 7.
"The Canal" will screen on Wednesday, April 23 at 10 p.m. at the Bow Tie Cinemas.
"Ruby" will screen on Thursday, April 24 at 5:30 p.m. at AMC Loews Village 7, and on Sunday, April 27 at 5 p.m. at Tribeca Cinemas, 54 Varick Street.
"Incident Urbain" will screen on Thursday, April 24 at 7:30 p.m., Friday, April 25 at 5:30 p.m., and Saturday, April 26 at 7:30 p.m., all at Bow Tie Cinemas.