A FILM ABOUT Irish language rap group Kneecap will be shown at the Cannes Film Market later this month.
The Cannes Film Market is held annually in conjunction with the Cannes Film Festival.
The main purpose of the Cannes Film Market is to connect filmmakers with those working in film financing and distribution.
The film on the Belfast trio, which is also called Kneecap, features as part of the Great8 showcase.
It presents eight new films from first and second time UK filmmakers to international distributors and Cannes festival programmers.
The film Aftersun, for which Paul Mescal was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor, was one of the films previously included in the Great8 showcase at the Cannes Film Market.
The Belfast trio formed in 2017 and the film about the group is directed and written by Rich Peppiatt.
In preparation for the Cannes Film Market, the film will be introduced by Peppiatt and screened for the first time tomorrow for international distributors and festival programmers.
It will then be available to international distributors during the Cannes Film Market from 16-24 May.
The Irish language film was also one of the winners of the 2021 Mother Tongues Awards.
It’s a development initiative for feature film projects at treatment or script stage that are written by UK-based filmmakers but the story dialogue is in a language other than English.
The film, which wrapped up production three weeks ago and was filmed in Belfast and Dundalk, is set in west Belfast in 2019.
Kneecap’s Mo Chara, Móglaí Bap and DJ Próvaí play semi-fictionalised versions of themselves in the film.
Speaking to The Journal, Kneecap, who are co-writers of the film, said they are really excited to see the feature length film come to fruition after years of work.
“It’s a feature length film that’s in a mix of Irish and English, and one that looks at culture in post-conflict society, which is really important.
“We’re delighted to tell the Kneecap story, which is a complex one of music, politics, language, identity, and culture.”
According to the film’s synopsis, Kneecap chronicles how fate brings the trio together and how they then go on to “change the sound of Irish music forever”.
The synopsis adds: “Under the name Kneecap, their band begins moulding the language to fit their tough, anarchic, hedonistic lives.
“A language encumbered with forty words for stone now has one for stoned. But to get their voices heard the trio must overcome police, paramilitaries and politicians as the future of the Irish language erupts into the public arena – with them at the centre.
“Yet their worst enemies are often themselves, as family and relationship pressures threaten their dreams, and their illegal exploits draw condemnation from all sides.”
Screen Ireland, Coimisiún na Meán, TG4 and Northern Ireland Screen were all involved in the production of the film.
The Great8 showcase is funded and run by the British Film Institute and the British Council.
Briony Hanson, the British Council’s director of film, said it was a “tough call to narrow down the selection this year” and added that she’s confident that all of the films are “destined for greatness”.
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