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BAFTA-nominated Irish actor Robert Sheehan (The Umbrella Academy) has signed on to lead a stage adaptation of Bruce Robinson’s 1987 cult tragi-comedy Withnail and I at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre alongside actors Adonis Siddique and Malcolm Sinclair.

Directed by the double Olivier Award-winning Sean Foley, Artistic Director of Birmingham Rep, and designed by Alice Power, the show will premiere at Birmingham Repertory Theatre, with performances from 3 May until 25 May 2024.

The adaption was written by Robinson. The original film was based on an unpublished novel by Robinson and was produced by Handmade Films, with Richard E Grant, Paul McGann, and Richard Griffiths leading. On stage, Sheehan will star as Withnail while Siddique is Marwood, and Malcolm Sinclair is Uncle Monty.

Sheehan made his acting debut in Aisling Walsh’s acclaimed feature Song For A Raggy Boy. Since then, his screen credits include Season of the Witch, Cherrybomb, Killing Bono, The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones,...

The Irish Film & Television Academy (IFTA) has selected Colm Bairéad’s debut feature The Quiet Girl (An Cailín Ciúin) as its entry for the best international film category for the 2023 Oscars, in the first announced submission of the upcoming awards season.

The Irish-language work swept the IFTA Awards last March to become the first debut feature to win best film, as well as clinch best director, actress, cinematography, editing, production design, and original score.

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Set in rural Ireland in 1981, the coming-of-age drama stars Catherine Clinch as a quiet, neglected girl who is sent from her overcrowded, dysfunctional household to live with distant relatives for the summer.

The film has £52.6m, ahead of ‘Spectre’ at the same stage but behind ‘Skyfall’.

Rank Film (Distributor) Three-day gross (Oct 8-10) Total gross to date Week 1 No Time To Die (Universal) £15.2m £52.6m 2 2 The Addams Family (Universal) £2m £2m 1 3 Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings (Disney) £556,579 £20.5m 6 4 The Paw Patrol Movie (Paramount) £126,000 £8.3m 9 5 The Many Saints Of Newark (Warner Bros) £125,000 £1.9m 3

Gbp to Usd conversion rate: 1.36

Universal’s No Time To Die has surged to £52.6m from just 11 days in cinemas, comfortably retaining the UK-Ireland box office lead on its second weekend.

The film took £15.2m from Friday to Sunday,...

Hawkins impresses as the Canadian outsider artist, but this true story jars when abuse is treated as romance

At first glance it’s a charming, feelgood story. This Etsy-cutesy drama based on the life of the Canadian outsider artist Maud Lewis (1903-70) tells the tale of a woman betrayed by her family, all but written off by society, who found solace in a can of paint. Maud (Sally Hawkins in a tremulous performance), channelled her compulsion to create into a cottage industry, selling her appealingly naive postcards and decorated boards to day-tripping city sophisticates. She was celebrated in the press. President Nixon owned a piece of her work.

But central to her life, and to this film by Aisling Walsh (Song for a Raggy Boy), is Maud’s relationship with her husband, itinerant fish pedlar Everett Lewis (a guttural, somewhat moth-eaten Ethan Hawke). And this is where Maudie wanders into more questionable territory.

Stanley Tucci, Catherine Deneuve dramas join competition; TV dramas and Oleg Sentsov doc set to get world premiere.

The Berlin International Film Festival has finalised its competition and Berlinale Special strands.

Joining the festival in Out Of Competition berths are Stanley Tucci-directed Final Portrait and Catherine Deneuve drama Sage Femme.

James Gray’s The Lost City Of Z will have its interntional premiere while documentary The Trial: The State of Russia vs Oleg Sentsov will have its world premiere.

Among TV world premieres are Amazon’s Patriot and BBC One’s SS-gb.

In total, 18 of the 24 films selected for Competitionwill be competing for the Golden and the Silver Bears. 22 of the films will have their world premieres at the festival.

For the third time, Berlinale Special Series will present a selection of TV series in the official programme. Six German and international productions will have their world premieres at the Haus der Berliner Festspiele this year...

Stanley Tucci, Catherine Deneuve dramas join competition; TV dramas and Oleg Sentsov doc set to get world premiere.

The Berlin International Film Festival has finalised its competition and Berlinale Special strands.

Joining the competition are

18 of the 24 films selected for Competition will be competing for the Golden and the Silver Bears. 22 of the films will have their world premieres at the festival.

The Berlinale Special will present recent works by contemporary filmmakers, documentaries, and extraordinary formats, as well as brand new series from around the world.

Berlinale Special Galas will be held at the Friedrichstadt-Palast and Zoo Palast. Other Special premieres will take place at the Kino International. Moderated discussions will follow the screenings at the Haus der Berliner Festspiele.

For the third time, Berlinale Special Series will present a selection of TV series in the official programme. Six German and international productions will have their world premieres at the Haus der Berliner Festspiele this year. Audiences...

Exclusive: Irish Film Board to back productions including Jim Sheridan’s The Secret Scripture and Tomato Red.

The Irish Film Board is to back productions from Juanita Wilson, Jim Sheridan, Julien Temple and Aisling Walsh in its latest round of funding decisions.

Noel Pearson (My Left Foot) is producing The Secret Scripture, which was announced in Berlin, with Jessica Chastain and Vanessa Redgrave attached, being sold by Voltage Pictures.

It has received this round’s biggest commitment of €600,000 ($820,000). In The Name Of The Father and My Left Foot’s Sheridan is now lined up to direct.

Johnny Ferguson’s adaptation of Sebastian Barry’s novel centres on the relationship between a 100-year-old woman who has been in a mental hospital for half her life and the psychiatrist who tries to understand why she is there. Production is due to get underway later this year.

Octagon Films production Tomato Red from writer-director Wilson (As If I Am Not There) has received...

Dark Sky Films has been involved with such films as The Innkeepers and Stake Land. They recently signed a new three-picture deal with Fantastic Films and the first project has been announced:

Leading producer-distributor Mpi’s Dark Sky Films today announced it has signed a three-picture deal with Ireland’s Fantastic Films, bringing together two strong independent companies to create and distribute thrilling genre movies to audiences around the world.

The deal was negotiated by Greg Newman, executive vice president of Mpi Media Group, and Fantastic Films’ Brendan McCarthy and John McDonnell. The three-picture arrangement will cover a two-year span, with the first film, The Cherry Tree, to begin principal photography at the end of 2012.

The deal continues a successful relationship between the two companies. The Oscar-winning Fantastic Films’ Stitches was produced in partnership with Mpi in 2012, while the pair also successfully released Wake Wood here in the Us. Wake Wood’s director,...

The Coca-Cola Cinemagic International Film and Television Festival for Young People will return to Dublin on 14 May, it has been announced. The festival, which will run from the 14-20 May, promises to provide a packed programme full of film screenings, master classes and workshops with industry professionals. Among the television and film talent taking part in this year's festival are 'X Factor' host Dermot O'Leary, casting agents Ros and John Hubbard 'The Commitments' and 'Harry Brown', as well as BAFTA-winning directors Aisling Walsh (Song for a Raggy Boy) and Neasa Hardiman (Tracey Beaker Returns), and 'Boardwalk Empire's' Brian Kirk.

Award winning Irish director Aisling Walsh (Song For a Raggy Boy, Trial & Retribution) is set to film a new BBC Drama 'Loving Miss Hatto' on location in Dublin, Ireland this coming April. The €2million production will be produced by Octagon Films (The Tudors, Raw, As if I'm Not There) and Left Bank Films for the BBC with financing from Bord Scannán na hÉireann/the Irish Film Board.

Ifta winning Irish filmmaker, Rebecca O’Flanagan is one of 25 producers chosen to take part in the Cannes Producers on the Move programme. The event, run by the Efp (European Film Promotion) offers a networking platform for selected participants at the Cannes Film Festival. Rebecca joins a prestigious list of previous Irish participants including Tristan Orpen Lynch (Song for a Raggy Boy); Macdara Kelleher (The Runway); Martina Niland (Once); Natalie Lichtenthaeler (As If I Am Not There) and Katie Holly (Sensation) who took part in last year’s event.

Irish audiences were introduced to Robert Sheehan in the harrowing Irish feature, 'Song for a Raggy Boy'. Following this a constant flow of acting work started and has rarely let up since. Roles in feature films such as 'Summer of the Flying Saucer', 'Red Riding' and 'Cherrybomb' along with dozens of television series including 'Foreign Exchange', 'The Clinic', 'Bitter Sweet' and E4's ongoing 'Misfits' have kept the Portlaoise export very firmly in the public psyche. Iftn spoke with him about getting in touch with his animal instincts, taking part in a very enjoyable casting session and looking for Ivan McCormick's twitch.

'Song for a Raggy Boy' co-writer and co-producer, Kevin Byron Murphy is currently working on two upcoming projects. Through his production company, Titian Red Pictures, the filmmaker is to shoot two films next year, 'Reconstruction of Warriors' with Oscar nominated director, Lajos Koltai (Malèna) and actors Topher Grace and Ashley Judd, and a new Northern Irish drama, 'Paperboy'. Iftn spoke to him about the upcoming films, the use of beer for holistic purposes and giving Northern Irish drama a positive spin... Cameras will roll next April of the set of 'Reconstruction of Warriors', a feature film from Irish screenwriter Kevin Byron Murphy which will look at the work of New Zealand plastic surgeon, Archibald McIndoe.

Magma Films' latest project, an adaptation of Ken Bruen's 'The Guards', has begun shooting today, October 27th, in Co. Galway. The film is directed by Stuart Orme (Inspector Morse, Merlin) with Iain Glen (Song for a Raggy Boy, Tara Road) leading the cast. Produced by Ralph Christians (Niko and the way to the Stars) and Clodagh Freeman (Summer of the Flying Saucer), the script was adapted from Bruen's novel by Anne McCabe, Tom Collins and Ralph Christians. Other crew involved includes Director of Photography John Conroy (The Bourne Ultimatum) and Production Designer Derek Wallace (Triage). Iain Glen (Tara Road) leads the cast as disgraced ex-cop Jack Taylor whilst Ralph Brown (The Boat that Rocked) stars as his sidekick Sutton. The female leads are played by Irish actresses Tara Breathnach (The Tudors) and Nora-Jane Noone (Savage).

'Celebrating cinema's emerging talents' - That's our new slogan, and I think tMF has come a long way, but of course there is still room for improvement. I think we're lucky that our viewers care enough to tell us both our good and bad points. The October edition of the Top 50 Hitlist will reflect all these... In the meantime, tMF puts the spotlight on today's rising stars - these are the guys who really made a lot of buzz - grabbed plum roles despite intense competition and would be working with the industry's topnotch filmmakers, and more.

Find out who they are - you've certainly heard some of them and a few might be unfamiliar names, but take a closer look - you might be missing some names who are still 'under the radar' but would soon be rockin' the scene!

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As in the past,...

'Celebrating cinema's emerging talents' - That's our new slogan, and I think tMF has come a long way, but of course there is still room for improvement. I think we're lucky that our viewers care enough to tell us both our good and bad points. The October edition of the Top 50 Hitlist will reflect all these... In the meantime, tMF puts the spotlight on today's rising stars - these are the guys who really made a lot of buzz - grabbed plum roles despite intense competition and would be working with the industry's topnotch filmmakers, and more.

Find out who they are - you've certainly heard some of them and a few might be unfamiliar names, but take a closer look - you might be missing some names who are still 'under the radar' but would soon be rockin' the scene!

- - -

- - -

As in the past,...

'Celebrating cinema's emerging talents' - That's our new slogan, and I think tMF has come a long way, but of course there is still room for improvement. I think we're lucky that our viewers care enough to tell us both our good and bad points. The October edition of the Top 50 Hitlist will reflect all these... In the meantime, tMF puts the spotlight on today's rising stars - these are the guys who really made a lot of buzz - grabbed plum roles despite intense competition and would be working with the industry's topnotch filmmakers, and more.

Find out who they are - you've certainly heard some of them and a few might be unfamiliar names, but take a closer look - you might be missing some names who are still 'under the radar' but would soon be rockin' the scene!

- - -

- - -

As in the past,...

'Celebrating cinema's emerging talents' - That's our new slogan, and I think tMF has come a long way, but of course there is still room for improvement. I think we're lucky that our viewers care enough to tell us both our good and bad points. The October edition of the Top 50 Hitlist will reflect all these... In the meantime, tMF puts the spotlight on today's rising stars - these are the guys who really made a lot of buzz - grabbed plum roles despite intense competition and would be working with the industry's topnotch filmmakers, and more.

Find out who they are - you've certainly heard some of them and a few might be unfamiliar names, but take a closer look - you might be missing some names who are still 'under the radar' but would soon be rockin' the scene!

- - -

- - -

As in the past,...

The American Cinematheque is presenting a series highlighting new films from Ireland to coincide with the 10th anniversary of the Irish Film Board. The New Irish Cinema series runs from March 14-17 at the Egyptian in Hollywood and includes six feature films and documentaries from new Irish directors as well as a short-film program. The festival leads off with the Aidan Quinn starrer Song for a Raggy Boy, director Aisling Walsh's searing portrait of life in an Irish reform school. Other films featured in the festival include drama The Mapmaker from director Johnny Gogan and the romantic comedy Goldfish Memory from Liz Gill. The series also includes two documentaries: Alan Gilsenan's The Ghost of Roger Casement, examining the case of a knighted Irishman who was executed by the British in 1916 on charges of treason, and Kim Bartley and Donnacha O'Briain's The Revolution Will Not Be Televised, an insider's portrait of the recent coup attempt against Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez. Other highlights include a special shorts program and a closing-night St. Patrick Day's Party with the new Irish comedy Mystics from director David Blair.