Rebekah Fortune’s Learning To Breathe Under Water, starring Rory Kinnear and The Apprentice actor Maria Bakalova, has wrapped production in Galway, Ireland, as Bankside Films unveils a slew of pre-sales on the project.
The comedy drama has sold to Benelux (September Film), Bulgaria (Beta), Eastern Europe excluding Poland (HBO), Former Yugoslavia (Karantanija Cinemas), Middle East (Front Row), Poland (Best Film) and airlines (Aardwolf).
The project is produced by Jack Tarling of the UK’s Shudder Films and Patrick O’Neill of Ireland’s Wildcard, who previously collaborated on Ireland’s international Oscar film race entry and box office success, Kneecap.
Newcomer Ezra Carlisle plays an eight-year-old who is mourning the death of his mother, five years ago, while his father swings between manic creativity and anxiety. That all changes when Bulgarian au pair Anya joins the household to help care for Leo.
The film was co-produced by KeyFilm in the Netherlands, One Wave Films in Wales and made in association with Eiru Films in the west of Ireland. Finance comes from Screen Ireland, BFI Global Screen Fund, Ffilm Cymru, WRAP Fund, Netherlands Film Fund, Finite Films, Bankside Films and Three Point Capital.
This is UK filmmaker Fortune’s second feature, after her 2017 debut Just Charlie won the Ecrans Junior award at Cannes, the audience award at Edinburgh and was nominated for two Bifas.
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