Setanta Ireland is to show an Irish feature film every weekday this summer for its new programme. A variety of feature films and documentaries will be shown on the Irish channel with the first week of screenings to kick off next Monday July 4th at 9pm. Opening the summer home cinema programme is Johnny Gogan’s ‘The Last Bus Home,’ which sees young Irish punks meeting on the day of the pope’s visit to Dublin in 1979 and starring Brian F. O’Byrne (Million Dollar Baby).
Bord Scannán na hÉireann / the Irish Film Board (IFB) and Setanta Ireland announced the new partnership today with IFB Chief Executive James Hickey saying “This series will bring Irish films to new audiences and we are delighted to work in partnership with Setanta Ireland on this project. We hope it will raise the overall profile of Irish films and give audiences an opportunity to engage with a range of films from comedies and thrillers to romances and documentaries, which they may not otherwise have a chance to see.”
The primetime films to be aired on the opening week of the summer programme include John Lynch’s ‘Night Train’ starring John Hurt (V for Vendetta, The Elephant Man) - a story of an unlikely romance between ex-con Poole and quite middleclass suburban landlady Alice, which will show on Tuesday Jul 5th at 9pm. Other films to be shown on the first week of the programme are Hunger Striker Drama ‘H3’, Supernatural Horror ‘Puffball’ and Irish thriller ‘Mapmaker’.
Customer Acquisitions Director of Setanta Ireland Brian Quinn also commented on the new partnership saying ”We are delighted to be part of an initiative that helps bring Irish film to a wider audience. There are some excellent home grown movies that viewers may not have had a chance to see and Setanta will be showing these on weeknights at 9pm on a free-to-air basis. This means they will be on UPC Channel 105 and Sky channel 423. Also it’s not necessary to be a Setanta subscriber to view them, they are open to all. We are looking forward to this summer series and hopeful that it will broaden Setanta’s audience.”
