email print share on Facebook share on Twitter share on LinkedIn share on reddit pin on Pinterest

PRODUCTION UK / Ireland

Nick Rowland in post-production with his first feature, Calm With Horses

by 

- Based on a Colin Barrett novella, Rowland's drama will star Cosmo Jarvis, Barry Keoghan and Niamh Algar

Nick Rowland in post-production with his first feature, Calm With Horses
Barry Keoghan and Cosmo Jarvis in Calm With Horses

Nick Rowland's debut feature, Calm With Horses [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
, is the fruit of a particularly intense five-year period that started when the director was studying at Beaconsfield's National Film and Television School alongside his future screenwriter, Joseph Murtagh. The pair worked together on four shorts, including Slap, a BIFA- and BAFTA-nominated drama released in 2014 and starring Joe Cole in the lead role. Rowland and Murtagh's idea for a feature-length project finally came to life in May last year, when Calm With Horses' filming commenced across the western Irish counties of Clare and Galway.

(The article continues below - Commercial information)

The drama, currently in post-production, is an adaptation of a novella from the acclaimed collection of short stories Young Skins by Irish writer Colin Barrett, published in 2013. Set in the gloomy Irish countryside, the story revolves around ex-boxer Douglas Armstrong, nicknamed “Arm” and a feared enforcer of the drug-dealing Devers family. In spite of his life of crime, Arm tries to be a good father to his autistic five-year-old son, Jack. Torn between these two families, the man's loyalty will be truly tested when he is asked to kill for the first time. Confirmed lead actors are Barry Keoghan (Black '47 [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Lance Daly
film profile
]
Dunkirk [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
), Cosmo Jarvis (Farming [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile
]
Lady Macbeth [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: William Oldroyd
film profile
]
) and Niamh Algar (The Drummer and the Keeper [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
Without Name [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
), whilst notable crew members include director of photography Piers McGrail (GrasslandNever Grow Old), editor Nicolas Chaudeurge (The Hummingbird Project [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
Fish Tank [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Andrea Arnold
film profile
]
) and composer David Holmes (the Ocean’s trilogy, Hunger [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Laura Hastings-Smith Rob…
interview: Steve McQueen
film profile
]
).

Calm With Horses was developed by British firms Film4 and DMC Film with financial support granted by Northern Ireland ScreenScreen Ireland and the Galway Film Centre's Western Region Audiovisual Producers Fund. In particular, the project was able to benefit from the support of the latter two bodies thanks to the main co-production partner, Dublin-based Element Pictures. Its production team includes Daniel EmmersonMichael Fassbender and Conor McCaughan for DMC Film, Sam Lavender and Daniel Battsek for Film4, and Ed GuineyAndrew LoweKate Glover and Rory Gilmartin for Element Pictures.

British company Altitude acquired international sales rights back in April and will distribute the film in the United Kingdom and Ireland in partnership with Element Pictures later this year.

(The article continues below - Commercial information)

Did you enjoy reading this article? Please subscribe to our newsletter to receive more stories like this directly in your inbox.

Privacy Policy