Two new Irish films ‘Life’s a Breeze’ (Fastnet Films) and ‘Dark Touch’ (Element Pictures) have been awarded Eurimage funding this month and Rebecca Daly’s ‘The Other Side of Sleep’ will receive support from the European Film Promotion (EFP) to market it to North America.
‘Life’s a Breeze’, which was awarded €300,000 by the European production support fund, is by up and coming Dublin writer and IFTA award-winning director Lance Daly (Kisses). The second film, ‘Dark Touch’, an Irish French co-production was awarded €390,000 is to be directed by Marina De Van (8 Women) and will be produced by Irish company Element Pictures.
The funding decisions were made, following discussions last week between delegates from over 35 Eurimages member countries representing the Board of Management for the Council of Europe's Eurimages Fund. The Board descended on Dublin for a four day meeting hosted by the Irish Film Board (IFB).
Speaking about the funding at the delegation event Jimmy Deenihan, Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht said, “We are particularly pleased to have two successful Irish projects in the latest Eurimages funding round."
Previous Irish co-productions which were awarded Eurimages support include the Oscar nominated ‘The Secret of Kells’, ‘As If I'm Not There’ , Ireland submission for the Academy Award Best Foreign Film prize this year, ‘This Must Be The Place’ starring Sean Penn which filmed in Dublin last year and the multi award winning, ‘Song for a Raggy Boy’.
The Eurimages fund aims to promote the European film industry by encouraging the production and distribution of feature films, documentaries and animated films that are intended for cinematographic exhibition. It also fostering co-operation between professionals in member states.
‘Life's a Breeze' and ‘Dark Touch' are expected to go into production in the next few months.
In other Irish film funding news, the European Film Promotion (EFP) is to offer film sales support to Rebecca Daly’s ‘The Other Side of Sleep’. The support will help the marketing of the film to North America. ‘The Other Side of Sleep’ is one of 29 European films which are being offered support totaling €81,000.
