Simon Fitzmaurice’s feature debut My Name is Emily is set to be released in US cinemas on February 17th, with a digital release one week later on February 24th.
My Name is Emily, which premiered at the Galway Film Fleadh, where it won the Best Cinematography Award along with Bingham Ray New Talent award for producer Kathryn Kennedy, is a love story between two teens and a road movie. On her 16th birthday, Emily escapes from her foster home and with the help of Arden, the boy who loves her, she sets out to find her father Robert, a visionary writer locked up in a psychiatric institution.
Evanna Lynch (Harry Potter) stars in the lead role, with support from acclaimed Northern Irish actor Michael Smiley (Kill List, A Field in England) as her father Robert, and newcomer George Webster as Arden.
The film was written and directed by Simon Fitzmaurice, who was diagnosed with Motor Neuron Disease (ALS) in 2008. Now totally incapacitated, Simon typed the script and communicated to his cast and crew solely through the movement of his eyes and iris recognition software. Frankie Fenton’s It’s Not Yet Dark, a documentary charting the development of the film, will premiere at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival later this month.
My Name is Emily was produced by Lesley McKimm for Newgrange Pictures and Kathryn Kennedy for Kennedy Films. Financing comes via the Irish Film Board, BAI, TV3 and the Irish tax incentive. The film was co-produced with Garagefilm International, Film Väst and Chimney Pot in Sweden, and with support from SVT and with Paradox in Norway.
The US release is being handled by Monument Releasing, a New York-based distribution company, specialising in the release of classic festival, foreign language, and American independent films. International sales are being handled by Visit Films.
For more on My Name is Emily follow the film’s website, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.