World Premiere for The Winter Lake At the Galway Film Fleadh 2020
WRAP Fund backed Irish feature film The Winter Lake, directed by first time feature director Phil Sheerin will have its World Premiere at the virtual, online Galway Film Fleadh at 9pm on Friday July 10th.
A dark and atmospheric coming-of-age drama, The Winter Lake was shot in Sligo in 2019. The cast is led by two ‘Screen Stars of Tomorrow’ for 2019; Emma Mackey (Sex Education, Eiffel, Death on the Nile), and Anson Boon (Blackbird, 1917). They are joined by Irish stars Charlie Murphy (Peaky Blinders, Halo) and Michael McElhatton (Game of Thrones, Chernobyl).
The film centres on alienated teenager Tom, and his troubled mother Elaine, who relocate to a run-down inherited farm in rural Ireland. There, Tom makes a frightening discovery in a nearby seasonal lake. The consequences of this discovery draw the uneasy duo into contact with their neighbour Ward, and with his charismatic but secretive daughter Holly. As Elaine makes tentative steps toward forming a relationship with Ward, Holly draws Tom into a dangerous plan. The four characters’ conflicting fears, desires, wills and weaknesses become entwined and build to a violent climax, as a dark story of family, secrecy and sexuality is played out against the bleakly beautiful countryside.
Irish director Phil Sheerin is a graduate of the prestigious Masters in directing course from the National Film and Television School in the UK. His short films have won awards at the Galway Film Fleadh (Best Film for North in 2015), Raindance, Aubagne, and he was nominated for a Student Academy Award. The Winter Lake was written by David Turpin, who wrote the award winning film The Lodgers which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. Local talent involved in the film include Ivan McMahon (Line Producer), Declan Sheridan (Art Director), Caroline McCurdy (Hair & Make-up Artist) and Martin Maguire (Stills Photographer).
The Winter Lake is an official Irish / Canadian co-production between Tailored Films and EMA Films and will have a theatrical release in late 2020. The film was funded by Screen Ireland, Epic Pictures Group, the WRAP Fund, Telefilm Canada, Filmoption International, and the BAI, with the support of Creative Europe, and in association with Title Media, Creativity Capital and RTÉ. The production received assistance from Sligo County Council Arts Office.
The online screening will be followed by a special Q&A with the cast and crew. Tickets are available HERE.