Northern Ireland chosen as location for £5 million movie

A £5 million film is to commence shooting in Northern Ireland on Friday October 18.
Shooting for four weeks in Belfast and Glenarm in County Antrim, before relocating to the Isle of Man, 'The Great Ceili War' is the second joint venture between leading director John Irvin and producer Evzen Kolar.
Set against a backdrop of traditional Irish music in 1970's rural Ireland, this ensemble comedy drama centres around two brothers, both fiddle players, who meet up again for the first time in 25 years as band leaders and arch rivals during the finals of the All Ireland Ceili Band Competition.
The film, which has a guaranteed US distribution, stars a host of Irish actors and musicians including Bernard Hill, Colm Meaney, Andrea Corr, Philip Barantini, Shaun Evans, Charlotte Bradley, Katherine Byrne and Ian Shaw, and features cameo appearances from James Nesbitt, Patrick Bergin and David Kelly.
While the production is undoubtedly good news for the Northern Ireland industry, it is only shooting there for four weeks, and will spend, at most, a quarter of its budget in the area before moving on to the Isle of Man.
Colin Anderson, Chairman of the Northern Ireland Film and Television Commission, welcomed the film but pointed out the promise of significantly greater investment from the Government of the Isle of Man had caused Northern Ireland to lose out.
(GB)