UK sales outfit Bankside Films has acquired West The Road, the feature debut from Irish writer-director Ita Fitzgerald, set to star Imelda Staunton, Derry Girls’ Siobhán McSweeney, The Magdalene Sisters’ Eileen Walsh and Ted Lasso star Hannah Waddingham.
Production will start later this year in County Kerry, western Ireland. The feature follows a group of women brought together by the death of a childhood friend. When they discover that she was forced to give her daughter up for adoption at the age of 15, the group embarks on a journey from the west of Ireland up the Wild Atlantic coastline – accompanied by a donkey called Thatcher – in search of the child.
It is produced by Matthew James Wilkinson and Patrick Tolan of UK-based Stigma Films and John Wallace and Alan Maher of Ireland’s Cowtown Pictures. Stephen Kelliher and Sophie Green will serve as executive producers for Bankside Films, who will be introducing buyers to the project at Cannes; Evan Leighton Davis is also an executive producer.
West The Road is produced with production support from Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland. Niamh Fagan is executive producer for Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland.
“West The Road is a wonderful celebration of life and the indomitable force of female friendship. We are thrilled to be able tell this story with such a talented cast and crew who will deliver a film that is full of laughter, joy and a great deal of emotion,” said Stephen Kelliher, managing director of Bankside Films.
Fitzgerald is based in London, and started her career directing for the BBC and other UK broadcasters. Her shorts include Over It and TMI.
No comments yet