More good news out of Park City, Utah with news that the Irish drama Brooklyn has been chosen to premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January. Screening out of competition in the Premieres section of the festival, Brooklyn will join four previously announced films and co-productions including Glassland, The Hallow, Strangerland and The Visit.
The story is set in the 1950s, and sees a young woman move from a small town in Ireland to Brooklyn, where she has the opportunity for work, for a future and for love.
The film is an adaptation of Colm Tóibín’s best-selling novel by the equally best-selling British author Nick Hornby. Intermission director John Crowley has gathered an all-star Irish and British cast for the film, that features Saoirse Ronan, Domhnall Gleeson, Emory Cohen, Jim Broadbent, and Julie Walters.
Commenting on the news James Hickey, IFB Chief Executive said “Having five Irish projects at Sundance is a major achievement for the Irish film industry, which will be respresented in a wide selection of categories of the festival, from international competition, to documentary, genre and major premieres. All five projects were produced with support from the Irish Film Board. We hope to achieve a large number of international sales for these films, ensuring they travel across the globe showcasing Irish talent and Irish stories to international audiences next year. Congratulations to all the teams involved.”
Brooklyn is an Irish/British co-production from Wildgaze Films, Finola Dwyer Productions, Parallel Films and Item 7. Brooklyn was co-financed by Bord Scannán na hÉireann/the Irish Film Board and filmed on location in Wexford, Dublin and Wicklow, before the film decamped to Canada to shoot in Montreal.
Starting a week later than usual next year (to avoid the Martin Luther King Jr holiday weekend), the 2015 festival will run from January 22nd to February 1st, in Park City, Utah.