'Omagh' leads trio of prestigious festival selections for Irish films

The Irish Film Board (IFB) co-financed feature 'Omagh' has just been selected for official competition at the prestigious San Sebastian Film Festival.
The Hells Kitchen International/Tiger Aspect production was directed by Peter Travis. The film was co-financed by the UK's Channel Four, Irish national broadcaster RTE, and the IFB, with international sales being handled by Portman Film. Omagh is just one of 15 titles from around the world to be selected to compete for September's Donostia-San Sebastian International Film Festival Golden Shell prize.
Meanwhile, two Irish short films, Tom Hopkin's 'Close' and Peter Foott's 'The Carpenter and His Clumsy Wife', have been selected for the 61st Venice Film Festival in September. Close, which was funded by RTE and Filmbase with the assistance of the IFB, has also been selected for the Montreal International Festival in August.
"The selection of these films for the prestigious San Sebastian, Montreal and Venice film festivals is terrific news for Irish filmmakers as their content shall be screened in the company of some of the best new films in the world," said IFB CEO Mark Woods. "The news only gets better for OMAGH, which has just secured significant international sales to France and Benelux with other major European territories under offer."
(GB)