Irish Film: Ken Loach's Jimmys Hall secures North American distribution with Sony Pictures Classics

Fresh news on the Irish film front from Cannes with word that Sony Pictures Classics has secured the North American rights to Ken Loach’s new feature Jimmy’s Hall.

The film is set to screen  in competition tomorrow, May 22nd, and could be one of the contenders as Loach won the Palme d’Or for The Wind That Shakes the Barley in 2006.

Wild Bunch has been selling the film at Cannes, which is produced by Sixteen Films and Element Pictures. Entertainment One in the UK had previously bought the UK distribution for the film, which was backed by FIlm4, the British Film Institute and the Irish Film Board/Bord Scannán na hÉireann.

The film is inspired by the true story of Irish communist Jimmy Gralton, who upon returning to Ireland from New York in 1932 reopens the dance-hall that he first opened 11 years before.

The film stars stars Barry Ward, Simone Kirby, Jim Norton, Brían F O’Byrne, and Andrew Scott, and is based on a script by Loach’s longtime collaborator Paul Lavery.

Jimmy’s Hall
is released in Irish cinemas on May 30th. Follow the film on Facebook and Twitter.

Source: THR