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Exclusive: Principal photography has wrapped in Northern Ireland on the coming-of-age comedy-drama The Wise Guy from local production outfit Out of Orbit, starring Darrell D’Silva (Wrath Of Man).

The Wise Guy is the debut feature from writer-director Sam O’Mahony and tells the story of Francis Burns, a lonely boy (and devout atheist) who desperate for guidance and protection, finds an unconventional mentor hiding in the nearby woods; an American Gangster.

The screenplay was developed through Northern Ireland Screen’s New Writer Focus scheme, with production funding coming from Northern Ireland Screen’s New Talent Focus Fund supported by Invest Ni and from post-production house Yellow Moon.

Previous feature films to come through Northern Ireland Screen’s New Talent Focus scheme include Out of Orbit’s The Dig, A Bump Along the Way by Shelly Love, Bad Day for the Cut by Chris Baugh, and The Devil’s Doorway by Aislinn Clarke.

While “Derry Girls” continues to be the last word in young, raucous female rebellion on the Emerald Isle, “A Bump Along the Way” has a little something to add. Sin the same Northern Irish city as the hit Netflix sitcom, but shedding the ’90s nostalgia for the Snapchat age, Shelly Love’s appealing, unassuming debut feature is a bright reminder that while Derry girls may grow up, they don’t entirely grow out of their antics. Tracing the up-and-down relationship between insecure “15-going-on-50” highschooler Allegra (Lola Petticrew) and her single mother Pam (Bronagh Gallagher), a persistent party girl stunned to find herself pregnant in her mid-forties, Love’s film skirts televisual territory in its cozy, visually flat comedy of clashing sensibilities. Yet the more sharply empathetic insights of Tess McGowan’s screenplay do poke through the cheer, gently handling subjects ranging from patriarchal neglect to adolescent bullying.

This year’s Santa Barbara festival opener,...

Above all the titles screening at the 35th Santa Barbara Intl. Film Festival, a 13-minute world premiere short stands as perhaps the ultimate example of the event’s goal of presenting films that balance local interests and global perspectives. Titled “Santa Barbara,” the short is about director Diana Markosian’s mother, who came to the coastal California town as a Russian mail-order bride after seeing the NBC soap opera of the same name.

“It was the first thing to be broadcast on Russian television following the fall of the Soviet Union,” says programming director Michael Albright.

The short — one of a record 4,000 feature and short films submitted this year — came in as a Russian sidebar was being planned. “There was this weird phenomenon where we were thinking about doing this section and this submission came in, sort of bringing it all together.”

Synchronicities aside, that balancing act is a hallmark of the festival,...

The Santa Barbara International Film Festival has announced the lineup for its 35th edition, which will take place from January 15 to 25. There will be 47 world premieres and 71 U.S. premieres, with 50 countries represented overall, in addition to starry tributes that serve as an awards season stop for top Oscar contenders. Among those feted in their respective categories will be Renée Zellweger (American Riviera Award), Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver (Outstanding Performers of the Year Award), Laura Dern (Cinema Vanguard Award), Brad Pitt (Maltin Modern Master Award), along with the winners of the Virtuosos Award: Awkwafina, Taron Egerton, Cynthia Erivo, Beanie Feldstein, Aldis Hodge, George MacKay, Florence Pugh, and Taylor Russell.

The Sbiff is also unique in its yearly celebration of below the line talent. The crafts artists who’ve won the Variety Artisans Award this year are Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez (“Frozen II”), Michael Giacchino (“Jojo Rabbit”), Kazu Hiro...

The Santa Barbara International Film Festival (Sbiff) announced on Monday the lineup for the 35th edition, which will run January 15 to 25, 2020. The festival will feature 47 world premieres and 71 U.S. premieres from 50 countries, along with tributes with the year’s top talent, panel discussions and free community education and outreach programs.

Sbiff 2020 will start with the Opening Night Film on Wednesday, January 15, at the historic Arlington Theatre with the U.S. Premiere of “A Bump Along The Way” directed by Shelly Love and starring Bronagh Gallagher, Lola Petticrew, Mary Moulds, Dan Gordon and Brendan Farrell.

“A Bump Along The Way” is female-led, feel-good, comedy drama set in Derry, Northern Ireland, about a middle-aged woman whose unexpected pregnancy after a one-night stand acts as the catalyst for her to finally take control of her life and become the role model her teenage daughter needs and craves.

Also Read: Scarlett Johansson, Adam Driver...

Exclusive: Shoot is underway in Northern Ireland on feature thriller Black Medicine, starring Antonia Campbell-Hughes (3096 Days), Orla Brady (American Horror Story), Amybeth McNulty (Anne With An E) and John Connors (King Of The Travellers).

The screenplay, written and directed by Lisburn native Colum Eastwood, is the eleventh film to come through Northern Ireland Screen’s New Talent Focus scheme, which has supported films including Shelly Love’s A Bump Along the Way, Ryan and Andrew Tohill’s The Dig, Chris Baugh and Brendan Mullin’s Bad Day for the Cut, Stephen Fingleton’s The Survivalist and Michael Lennox’s A Patch of Fog.

Black Medicine follows a black-market medic who carries out illegal operations for the criminal underworld. When she gives refuge to a young girl, she must to choose between breaking her medical oath or crossing her ruthless employers.

Janine Cobain produces for 12Ten Productions. Financed by Northern Ireland Screen...

The nominations for the 2019 British Independent Film Awards have been revealed, and it was a huge morning for Armando Iannucci’s Charles Dickens adaptation “The Personal History of David Copperfield” and Tom Harper’s musical drama “Wild Rose.” “Copperfield” led all movies with 11 nominations, including Best British Indie Film, Best Actor for Dev Patel, and Best Screenplay for Iannucci and co-writer Simon Blackwell. Fox Searchlight has U.S. distribution rights to the movie and has announced a 2020 theatrical release.

“Wild Rose,” which earned a second-best 10 nominations, will also compete for Best British Indie Film against “Bait,” “For Sama,” and “The Souvenir.” “Wild Rose” breakout Jessie Buckley landed a Best Actress nomination opposite Renee Zellweger for “Judy,” which Buckley just so happens to have a supporting role in.

While Zellweger landed in the Best Actress field (which she is widely expected to do all awards season thanks to her acclaimed leading...

Armando Iannucci’s The Personal History Of David Copperfield and Tom Harper’s Wild Rose lead the nominees pool for the 2019 British Independent Film Awards (BIFAs), which were unveiled in London this morning. Scroll down for the full list.

Copperfield has 11 nods including best film and director as well as actor for star Dev Patel. Wild Rose has 10 including best film and director, and actress for Jessie Buckley.

Peter Strickland’s In Fabric has nine and Joanna Hogg’s The Souvenir, which is up for best film, has eight.

Judy missed out on best film but did take a nom for star Renee Zellweger and has five in total.

The best film category is completed by Waad al-Kateab and Edward Watts’ Syria doc For Sama, and Mark Jenkin’s micro-budget Bait, which has been a surprise box office hit in the UK, grossing $520k.

Other notable nominees include Chiwetel Ejiofor,...

‘Bait’, ‘A Bump Along The Way’ among 16 titles selected.

Mark Jenkin’s breakout hit Bait and Shelly Love’s pregnancy drama A Bump Along The Way are among the 16 titles longlisted for the Raindance Discovery award at this year’s British Independent Film Awards (BIFAs).

The 16 films will be whittled down to five nominated titles by Bifa voters and announced next week (Oct 30) alongside the other Bifa nominations.

Other longlisted films include Good Posture, the directorial debut of actor Dolly Wells starring Grace Van Patten and Emily Mortimer; Pink Wall, the first feature film from Weekend and Downton Abbey actor Tom Cullen; and Mari,...

Bronagh Gallagher is terrific as the fortysomething mother of a teenager who unexpectedly finds she’s expecting again

Lovely, warm performances from Bronagh Gallagher and Lola Petticrew are at the heart of this pregnancy comedy set in Derry in Northern Ireland, written by Tess McGowan and directed by Shelly Love – both feature first-timers – and produced by Louise Gallagher (sister of Bronagh).

Gallagher plays Pamela, a good-natured optimist by nature, working hard to bring up her teenage daughter on her own, after her partner ran out on them. This is Ally – a smart, focused, sensitive performance from Petticrew. But Pamela is not just a placid boring mum; she likes a good time and the occasional drink and a laugh and after a one-night stand with a younger guy, she finds to her astonishment that she is pregnant again at 44, having been assured long ago by the medical profession that she was infertile.

The Toronto Film Festival has revealed this year’s lineups for its documentary, Midnight Madness, Discovery and retro Cinematheque sections, adding movies from Alex Gibney, Barbara Kopple, Bryce Dallas Howard, Richard Stanley and Ali LeRoi to the 2019 fest that kicks off next month.

Tiff Docs’ 25 pics kicks off with the world premiere of Feras Fayyad’s The Cave, about an underground hospital led by a female doctor in war-torn Syria. Also in the mix is Kopple’s Desert One, chronicling a perilous mission to rescue hostages in Iran, and Gibney’s Citizen K, profiling the Russian oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky.

Meanwhile, the genre lineup of Midnight Madness includes Richard Stanley’s H.P. Lovecraft adaptation Color Out of Space, which stars Nicolas Cage and brings the director back to the section after 29 years, and Takashi Miike’s Japanese action-comedy First Love.

The Discovery section will open with Chiara Malta’s Simple Women,...

Irish comedies have won big at this year's Fleadh, while Patrick Wang's A Bread Factory scooped the Award for Best International Film. It's a wrap for the 31st edition of the Galway Film Fleadh, the Republic of Ireland's leading film festival. Yesterday, Sunday 14 July, the event came to a close after the screening of Ivan Kavanagh's new western Never Grow Old, starring Emile Hirsch and John Cusack in the lead roles. As always, the historic Town Hall Theatre hosted the awards ceremony. This year's edition saw the triumph of two Irish comedies – namely, Shelly Love's A Bump Along the Way, the recipient of the Award for Best First Feature, and Mike Ahern and Enda Loughman's Extra Ordinary, crowned Best Irish Feature. Incidentally, the latter also won the Best Film Award and the Audience Award at the Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival this weekend (see the news). Other prestigious.