A full-length feature film directed by local film-maker, Girish Patel, has been completed and features both well-known locations and actors. The film, ‘59’, is the first film produced by Glanmire-based production company, Sallybrook Productions.

Filmed locally in Fermoy and Cork, as well as the West of Ireland and London, ‘59’ features local cast and landmarks, and is a heart-warming, romantic-drama-music film that features relationships, conflict, angels and original songs. Local actors in the film include Kevin Dolan, Marie O’Brien, Valerie Wall, John Potter and Anne Lynch.

Director Girish Patel formerly taught in CBS Primary School in Mitchelstown and currently works in Coláiste an Chraoibhín in Fermoy. Mr Patel not only wrote, directed, produced and acted in the lead role of the film, but has also composed the musical score for the movie, and as a singer-songwriter in real life, he has written and sung several songs that feature in the film.

The film features a near all Irish cast, several of whom are local to Fermoy, Girish told the Avondhu.

“We insisted on featuring local talent, most of whom had never acted before, people who had interesting, albeit busy lives, who were willing to give up a few hours to help and we’ve been thrilled and delighted at the generosity of the cast in helping us bring our story to life on the silver screen.

Coláiste an Chraoibhín and the theatre in the Fermoy Youth Centre are featured in the film, while Glanmire and Kinsale were also locations for scenes.

The  Co-Producer of ‘59’, Carmel Barrett, described the film as ‘The Commitments meet Once’, since the plot involved characters that are engaged in making music whilst dealing with the challenges of their individual lives.

“The movie is a drama with romance, conflict, relationships, angels, music and songs, and tells the story of a stranger who arrives in rural Ireland having lost everything. Following a sequence of events, he teams up with an ageing pensioner and a local vet to enter a million pound song contest against all the odds. Will the three unlikely hero’s win against today’s young, talented musicians?”

One of the stars of the film is Fermoy businessman, Kevin Dolan, who plays the villain, Seamus, an ex-Irish Army soldier trying to come to terms with his past war experiences.

“These experiences have turned Seamus into a violent, ruthless antagonist in the film, and I was thrilled to have been cast as an unknown actor with little experience. The director was keen that I play this part as in real life I actually served with the Irish Army abroad, including several terms of duty in the Middle East.”

He added: “I shot my scenes at several Fermoy landmarks, including within Coláiste an Chraoibhín, and at Fermoy’s Youth Theatre by the quay.”

The film has been entered into the Sundance Film Festival in the USA, one of the most prestigious independent film festivals in the world. The film is currently being screened in London for distributors and agents, with the hope of acquiring cinematic distribution down the line.

blog comments powered by Disqus