A new feature film starring two of Ireland’s leading actresses is to premiere at the Galway Film Fleadh on Friday – with actors and director in attendance.
Singer Songwriter Kidnapper is the debut feature film of award-winning writer/director Douglas Ray, who worked as Ken Loach’s assistant and has built up a reputation for his quirky short films featuring actors such as Tom Hardy, Rafe Spall and Ruth Wilson.
Singer Songwriter Kidnapper also stars Paul Hilton and acclaimed comedian Matt Berry. The film follows hapless has-been musician Mark, who finds out his wife has been cheating on him with a woman and embarks on a poorly executed kidnap in revenge.
The wife, Karen, is played by Bray native Eva Birthistle – who has won multiple awards and recently starred in RTE hit Amber. Known as the lead in Ken Loach’s Ae Fond Kiss, she has starred in numerous TV and film dramas, winning London Film Critics Circle Actress of the Year Award in 2004 and twice named IFTA Best Actress in a Leading Role (Film) award.
Karen’s lover Jamie is played by Northern Ireland’s Antonia Campbell-Hughes, star of Irish feature film The Other Side of Sleep, for which she was named as a Star of Tomorrow by Screen International. She has appeared in an array of TV series, including Spooks, Lewis and the sitcom Lead Balloon to great press acclaim.
Mark, the kidnapping husband, is played by Paul Hilton, an Olivier Award winning British stage actor who’s had key roles in critically acclaimed BBC drama series Silk and Twenty Twelve.
Matt Berry is a well-known UK comedy actor who played Douglas on Channel 4’s The IT Crowd, co-wrote and stars in Channel 4’s thespian themed comedy Toast of London, and is of the ensemble, together with Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer, in BBC’s House of Fools.
The world premiere will be screened at 22:00 on Friday 11 July in Screen 6 at the IMC Cinema in Galway Retail Park, HeadfordRd, Co. Galway.
A director’s Q&A will follow the film and members of the cast will be in attendance.