THE GUARD selected to open the Edinburgh International Film Festival & Irish Premiere to be held at this year’s Galway Film Fleadh.
Following on from a wealth of high-profile screenings this year, including Sundance, Berlin & Tribeca, The Guard will now open the Edinburgh International Film Festival on June 15th, followed by the Irish Premiere on July 6th at the Galway Film Fleadh.
The Guard has received incredible reactions from critics and audiences alike this year. Screen Daily believes that “The Guard will win over audiences with its zinger lines from McDonagh’s script and deft casting in all the roles”. The Hollywood Reporter describes The Guard as “Scabrous, profane, violent, verbally adroit and very often hilarious.” The US entertainment website FilmCrave.com was equally impressed with The Guard as it “easily places itself in the same breath as other crime thrillers from the region - Snatch, In Bruges, Hot Fuzz, etc. It's a film that will be one of your favorites of the year and also remain in your heart for years to come”. The Guardian reported that “The Guard has some of the best one-liners and drop-dead observations I've heard for a while.” The Independent feels it “‘played like an encounter between Father Ted and The Bad Lieutenant”
Written and directed by John Michael McDonagh The Guard is a comedy thriller set on the west coast of Ireland starring Brendan Gleeson as Sergeant Gerry Boyle, a small-town cop with a confrontational personality, a subversive sense of humour, a dying mother, a fondness for prostitutes, and absolutely no interest whatsoever in the international cocaine-smuggling ring that has brought FBI agent Wendell Everett (Don Cheadle (Iron Man 2, Crash, Hotel Rwanda) to his door. The Guard also stars Liam Cunningham, Pat Shortt, Darren Healy, David Wilmot, Rory Keenan, Mark Strong, Fionnula Flanagan and Slovenian newcomer Katarina Cas.
Speaking on its selection for Galway, the Managing Director of the Film Fleadh, Miriam Allen said “Having begun its journey to the big screen in Connemara and following its great success on the international festival circuit,the Galway Film Fleadh is delighted to bring The Guard full circle for its homecoming as part of its 2011 line-up."
The Irish Premiere will take place in the Eye Cinema, Galway with an after-party in the G Hotel.
The Guard is an Irish/UK co-production, backed by the Irish Film Board and Section 481 as well as International Financiers. It’s produced by Chris Clark and Flora Fernandez Marengo for Reprisal Films and Ed Guiney (Garage) and Andrew Lowe (The Wind that Shakes the Barley) for Element Pictures.
Irish audiences will get an opportunity to see THE GUARD in cinemas when it goes on nationwide release on July 7th 2011.
