Latest news with #LearningtoBreatheUnderWater
RTÉ News
11-05-2025
- Entertainment
- RTÉ News
Irish films to feature at 2025 Cannes Film Festival
Irish cinema will have a notable presence at this year's Cannes Film Festival, with Dublin-based Element Pictures returning to the Official Selection with two titles - Pillion and My Father's Shadow - while Galway-shot Learning to Breathe Under Water will feature in the Great 8 showcase for emerging talent. Taking place from 13 to 24 May, Cannes remains the most prestigious film festival in the global calendar, with a highly selective programme. The inclusion of several Irish-backed productions highlights continued international interest in work coming from Ireland. Element Pictures' Pillion, starring Alexander Skarsgård and based on the novel by Adam Mars-Jones, is described as the story of a timid man who is swept into a new world when he falls under the spell of a charismatic biker. The film is financed by BBC Film and the BFI. Also in the Official Selection is My Father's Shadow, directed by Akinola Davies Jr. Set during the 1993 Nigerian election crisis, it follows a father and his estranged sons navigating Lagos during a period of political unrest. The film is a co-production with Crybaby and Fatherland Productions. In addition, Learning to Breathe Under Water has been selected for the Great 8 showcase - an industry programme that presents emerging UK and Irish films to international buyers and festival programmers. Directed by Rebekah Fortune, the Galway-made feature stars Rory Kinnear, Academy Award nominee Maria Bakalova, and newcomer Ezra Carlisle. The story centres on an imaginative eight-year-old boy who builds a world of his own to make sense of his grief and the mysteries of adult life. Element Pictures has a long-standing relationship with the Cannes Film Festival, having premiered titles such as The Wind That Shakes the Barley, which won the Palme d'Or in 2006, and more recently Kinds of Kindness, which earned Jesse Plemons the Best Actor award in 2024. This year's Cannes Film Festival will also feature a special screening of Bono: Stories of Surrender, a documentary by director Andrew Dominik focusing on the U2 frontman. The 2025 festival includes 21 films in the main competition, with the Palme d'Or to be awarded by a jury led by Juliette Binoche and including Halle Berry and Succession star Jeremy Strong.
RTÉ News
07-05-2025
- Entertainment
- RTÉ News
Irish film selected for prestigious showcase at Cannes
The Irish film Learning to Breathe Under Water has been officially selected for the prestigious Great 8 showcase at the upcoming Cannes Film Festival. Directed by Rebekah Fortune (Just Charlie), it stars Rory Kinnear (James Bond, Men, The Imitation Game) and Academy Award-nominee Maria Bakalova (Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, The Apprentice, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3). The film, made in Galway last year, introduces rising Irish talent Ezra Carlisle in his first major screen role. The selection marks a significant milestone for the film, which will be presented to international buyers and festival programmers as part of the exclusive Great 8 spotlight - an initiative that has previously launched acclaimed titles such as Charlotte Wells' Aftersun, Rose Glass's Saint Maud, and Rich Peppiatt's Kneecap. Written by Richard Brabin, the film follows eight-year-old Leo (Carlisle) - curious, wise and full of imagination. His best friend is a massive shark - half sculpture, half myth - that crashed through the roof of his house one night when his dad, Peter (Kinnear), gave shape to what he couldn't say out loud. Leo's world is full of questions: why do grown-ups act so strangely? Where did Mum go five years ago? And will Dad ever come down from the clouds - or at least remember to do the shopping? Peter's either buried in big, bonkers art projects or barely speaking, so Leo daydreams vividly and shares his secrets with the shark, who might just be listening but can't speak back. Then Anya (Bakalova) bursts into their lives: a spirited au pair with her own questions to shatter the silence and answers more honest than Leo has ever heard before. Her fearless warmth and energy brings back colour to their world and uplifts their lives. The Great 8 showcase is produced by the BFI and British Council, with thanks to BBC Film and Film4. The film will be available for acquisition at the Cannes Marché du Film, with international sales handled by Bankside Films. Learning to Breathe Under Water is produced by Patrick O'Neill for Wildcard and Jack Tarling for Shudder Films, in co-production with KeyFilm and One Wave Films, and in association with Éiru Films. The project was supported by Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland, the UK Global Screen Fund, Ffilm Cymru Wales, the WRAP Fund, the Netherlands Film Fund, Dias Feld, Finite Films, Bankside Films, and Three Point Capital.
