Irish Abroad: Michael Madsen’s documentary The Visit to play SXSW

Yesterday the reknowned US film festival South by Southwest unveiled its lineup for 2015. Among the 145 feature films to play at the festival, are 100 World Premieres, 13 North American Premieres and 11 U.S. Premieres, selected from a record 2,385 feature-length film submissions. There’s even room for The Visit, an Irish co-production, from the team behind the hit documentary His & Hers.

This selection continues the recent trend of Irish films at SXSW, where Terry McMahon’s Patrick’s Day played last year, Kelly + Victor and Good Vibrations screened in 2013; and Dollhouse, Dreams of a Life, Citadel, Foxes and Joy in 2012.

Co-produced by Venom Film, with support from the Irish Film Board, The Visit is a creative documentary that poses the question, what would happen if we were to be visited by a being from another world. The film presents this hypothetical scenario to experts from around the world who have already dedicated their lives to preparing for such an event.

The Visit recently screened in the World Documentary Competition category at the Sundance Film Festival, and is set to be released here later this year.

An alien encounter. A hypothetical visitor arrives from Outer Space. The authorities are immediately alerted – the military, defence and communication advisors, and the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs. How to deal with this unprecedented event? How to reassure Earth’s inhabitants, who are prone to panic, when you have no previous experience to draw upon?