KNEECAP KNOW HOW to make an entrance. 

Mo Chara, Móglaí Bap and DJ Próvaí arrived outside The Lighthouse Cinema at 7pm in their mock-up PSNI Land Rover, as is their custom. Mo Chara hopped out to greet the crowd, asking: “What are yous looking at?” while DJ Próvaí climbed atop the vehicle to wave a Palestinian flag. 

A throng had gathered to meet them, here at the Dublin premiere of their first feature length film, also titled Kneecap. The group’s seemingly automatic ability to cause a stir was on full show, with a member of An Garda Síochána in attendance somehow left holding a tricolour balaclava like the one worn by DJ Próvaí. The guard in question declined to pose with the balaclava (or, indeed, put it on).

Faced with a crowd of staring faces and flashing cameras – a testament to the hype that has engulfed these young men – they bid the crowd to ask them some questions, even general knowledge. Móglaí Bap even threw “What’s the capital of Latvia?” out at the audience. Reader, I was the only one brave enough to answer, and I was, of course, correct (it’s Riga). But this isn’t about me. 

This night was all about the West Belfast trio, all of whom star in the film alongside Michael Fassbender, who plays a former paramilitary republican and fictionalised version of Móglaí Bap’s father.

Directed by Rich Peppiatt, the comedy-drama serves as a dramatisation of the group’s journey from the delinquency and debauchery on the streets of Belfast to… delinquency and debauchery as one of Ireland’s most promising musical acts. 

Kneecap (the movie) has already won stellar reviews from several major publications. NME referred to the movie as “one of the best musical biographies ever made,” and it won the NEXT Audience Award at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival in the United States. RTÉ has hailed the movie as “a triumph”.  

Carl Kinsella Carl Kinsella

Plenty of other Irish stars were in attendance on Wednesday evening, including Aidan Gillen, Liam Cunningham, Andrew Hendy of The Mary Wallopers, Fionnuala Flanagan and, perhaps most surprisingly, Pat Kenny. The atmosphere was one of celebration and revelry, with pints of Beamish being passed joyfully between cast members.

In addition to telling a heightened account of the group’s origin story, the film also provides a slice-of-life of modern-day Belfast, pointing a mirror at the Police Service of Northern Ireland’s treatment of Republican youths, Catholic-Protestant romance, the Irish Language Act, and punishment attacks by dissident Republican groups. The events of the film are set in motion by Mo Chara, who is arrested and demands to be interrogated through Irish.

Speaking on the red carpet, actress Fionnuala Flaherty – originally from the Aran Islands – spoke about her excitement at having the chance to act through Irish, playing a character who is campaigning on behalf of the Irish Language Act, which has caused such consternation among unionist politicians in the North.

The movie’s release comes at another time of great upheaval for Belfast, where riots and violence targeting ethnic minority groups seized the city over the past weekend. A spate of attacks in the city resulted in one café being entirely burned out, while a Middle Eastern shop has been forced to close following an attack which is being investigated as a hate crime.

Asked on the red carpet about the Belfast attacks, DJ Próvaí said: “It’s not representative of us as a community or as Irish people. For a long time we were treated the same way in England and other places around the world, and for people to come to Ireland and be treated that way is disgraceful. It doesn’t represent us.” Móglaí Bap agreed. 

It was announced last week that the film had been selected as Ireland’s entry to the International Feature Film category at the upcoming 97th annual Academy Award, by a judging panel that included Stephen Rea, Liam Cunningham, Colm Bairéad and Bríd Ní Neachtain.

Asked for their reaction to the Oscar’s announcement, Mo Chara said: “Straight on the smack, dead at 27″. Joking, naturally, but with an impressively straight face.

Based on the evidence so far, Kneecap will be around a lot longer than that.