Song Of Granite, the new feature film from Pat Collins (Silence), will have its European premiere when it opens this summer’s Galway Film Fleadh on July 11th. The news coincides with the announcement today that the film will have a U.S. release after being acquired by Oscilloscope Laboratories. Wildcard Distribution will release the film in Irish cinemas later this year.
The biopic charts the rise of traditional Irish folk singer Joe Heaney, and how the songs of his west of Ireland childhood helped shape his complex character. Co-written by Collins, Eoghan Mac Giolla Bhríde, and Sharon Whooley, the film had its world premiere at this year’s SXSW Film Festival. Enigmatic and complex, Joe Heaney was one of the greats of traditional Irish singing (sean nós). Shaped by the myths, fables, and songs of his upbringing in the west of Ireland, his emergence as a gifted artist came at a personal cost.
Macdara Ó Fátharta, Michael O’Chonfhlaola, and Colm Seoighe portray Heaney at various stages in his life. Collins penned the script with Eoghan Mac Giolla Bhride and Sharon Whooley. Cinematographer Richard Kendrick shot the film for black-and-white and it is edited by long-time Collins collaborator Tadhg O’Sullivan.
I have long been an admirer of Oscilloscope’s exceptional library of titles and am delighted to be working with Dan and his team on Song Of Granite.
Pat Collins – Director
Pat’s unique and genre-defying telling of Joe’s story is all at once informative, engaging, and formally inventive. Towing the line between fiction and documentary we get a new and fascinating insight into a man little-known but highly-deserving.
Dan Berger – Oscilloscope Laboratories
Song Of Granite was produced by Alan Maher and Jessie Fisk of Marcie Films with Martin Paul-Hus of Amerique Film with funding from the Irish Film Board, SODEC, Broadcasting Authority of Ireland, Telefilm Canada, and TG4.
Earlier this month Alan Maher was selected as Ireland’s Producer on the Move for EFP at the Festival du Cannes 2017. Future projects with his producing partner Ms. Fisk include: feature documentary Venice of the North, directed by Tom Burke, set in the village of Newtok, Alaska; and drama Trade, written by Mark O’Halloran and directed by Hong Khaou. Previous films include: Forever Pure (Dir: Maya Zinshtein); and Being AP (Dir: Anthony Wonke).