Garage to debut in Director’s Fortnight
Following on from the industry rumour that Kings would become the first Irish language film to screen at the Cannes Film Festival, it was announced today that Garage [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ed Guiney
interview: Jean-François Deveau
interview: Lenny Abrahamson
film profile] would be the latest Irish addition to the Director’s Fortnight. This continues a remarkable run for Irish cinema at Cannes, given that Ken Loach’s The Wind That Shakes the Barley [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Ken Loach
interview: Rebecca O’Brien
film profile] won the coveted Palme D’Or in 2006 and went on to take over €15m worldwide.
Garage stars Pat Shortt as the lonely misfit Josie who looks after a dilapidated petrol station in the Irish mid-west. The film follows his ever-optimistic journey as he searches for intimacy over the course of a fateful summer.
Olivier Père, Artistic Director of Directors Fortnight, said: “Garage is such a wonderful movie. It is beautifully made and very moving with an amazing performance from Pat Shortt, who will be the great discovery of the international audience at the Fortnight this year.”
The film marks the second collaboration between director Lenny Abrahamson and writer Mark O’Halloran, who previously created the award-winning black comedy Adam & Paul (2004).
Producer Ed Guiney said: “We’re very excited about bringing Garage to Cannes. Lenny and Mark have created a remarkable film and the Cannes selection is both a wonderful endorsement of this as well as a fantastic launch pad.” And according to director Abrahamson: “I am absolutely delighted that our work has received this recognition. It is a great start to the film’s life.”
Garage is an Element Pictures production for the Irish Film Board, Film4, RTÉ and the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland. The company’s previous credits include Ken Loach’s The Wind That Shakes the Barley, Peter Mullan’s The Magdalene Sisters [+see also:
trailer
film profile] and Gabriel Range’s Death of a President [+see also:
trailer
film profile].
The Cannes selection of the film should bring some cheer to the British Isles in general as no UK films were selected in competition, though Michael Winterbottom’s A Mighty Heart [+see also:
trailer
film profile] will premiere at the festival, but is not eligible for any awards.
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