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KARL JOHNSON [THE PIER] gets BEST ACTOR AWARD at ZADAR IFF CROATIA
NEW FILM FROM CORK FILMMAKER WOWS INTERNATIONALLY
An up and coming Irish film-maker Gerard Hurley combines traditional storytelling techniques and experiences gained while traveling to weave a wonderfully heart-felt story in The Pier, a film that is picking up rave plaudits at home and abroad.
The Pier is a delicately paced story that pits father and son against one another in a battle that is as old as humanity. While the viewer longs for reconciliation, director Gerard Hurley is a masterful storyteller and it's never quite apparent whether the two protagonists will figuratively bury the hatchet or literally bury a hatchet in one another.
The Pier which was filmed in New York and in various locations in West Cork including Goleen, Ballydehob, Dunmanus, Schull, Skibbereen, Castletownsend, Castlehaven, Tragumna and Bantry stars Karl Johnson, Gerard Hurley and Lili Taylor. After twenty years of no contact with his son, Larry McCarthy (Karl Johnson) pretends to be dying in order to trick his son, Jack (Gerard Hurley) into returning home to West Cork. When Jack arrives he is furious to find that his father is alive and kicking and, if anything even more furious, when he's tricked into staying.
Director Gerard Hurley said
“The Pier is a simple story about the relationship between a father and son. They haven't spoken in years and the father pretends to be on his deathbed to get the son to come home. Needless to say the son is less than impressed to see his dad playing golf in a field of cattle when he does return.
At the core of the film is Larry's denial about the death of his wife, Jack's mother. The story explores the difficult and painful, yet often hilarious ways they try to communicate. Forging a begrudging peace, the reality of life intrudes when Larry discloses a painful truth that has the power to either rupture their relationship forever or bind them closer together”
The Pier has screened at festivals as far from home as the Czech Republic, where it had its world premiere at the prestigious Karlovy Vary International Film Festival and in Israel, where it played in the Jerusalem International Film Festival. The Pier had its Irish premiere at the Galway Film Fleadh and has screened at the Corona Cork Film Festival, Thessaloniki International Film festival in Greece and Tbilisi International Film Festival in Georgia.
Produced on a very small budget, The Pier has secured national distribution and will screen in Dublin, Cork, Kerry, Galway, sligo and Laois in January and February.
Wednesday 3rd October The Irish Festival of Oulu, Finland
Sunday 16th September Irish Film Festival, New Orleans, USA
Saturday 15th and Sunday 16th September Oldenburg International Film Festival, Germany
Wednesday 29th August Avvantura Festival, Film Forum Zadar, Crotia
Thursday 19th and Friday 20th July, Maine International Film Festival, Maine, USA
Saturday 31st March Cleveland International Film Festival, Cleveland, Ohio
Thursday 22nd March Tel Aviv, Israel
Sunday 18th March Sofia International Film Festival
Friday 16th March Moscow Irish Film Festival, Moscow
Sunday 4th December Rome Irish Film Festival, Italy
Monday 19th March, The Phoenix Cinema, Dingle, Co Kerry @ 6pm
Friday 24th Feb to Thursday 1st March The Gate Cinema, Cork
Saturday 17th March Town Hall, Galway
Sunday January 29th IFI Dublin
Tuesday January 31st Classic Cinema, Listowel, Co Kerry
Friday February 3rd, 4th, 5th, Skibbereen Town Hall, Co Cork
Friday February 3rd - Feb 9th Eye Cinema, Galway
Saturday February 4th, 7th, 8th, 9th Park Cinema, Clonakilty, Co Cork
Sunday February 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th Cinemax Bantry, Co Cork
Sunday February 5th,6th,7th,8th Qand A on 5th Triskel Arts Centre, Cork
Monday February 6th, 7th Macroom Briary Gap, Cork
Tuesday February 7th Phoenix Cinema, Dingle, Kerry
Thursday February 9th Carrick On Shannon Multiplex,
Wednesday February 15th, 18th The Model Sligo
Tickets for The Pier are available by contacting the venues directly.
About Gerard Hurley
Director Gerard Hurley was born in West Cork and emigrated to Switzerland when he was sixteen to work with horses. In 1986, he emigrated to the USA to work in the oil fields in Oklahoma. Beginning in the early 1990's, he took jobs in the Camera and Art Departments of Independent Film Productions in New York and began writing scripts. He has penned 20 screenplays and sold options on those to such Hollywood heavy hitters as Stanley Tucci (Big Night, Imposters) and Charles Wessler (Something About Mary). Hurley has also worked as a script consultant on a number of features. Success as a scriptwriter led to work as a script consultant and as a director.
In 2008, Hurley wrote, directed, produced and starred in his first feature film, The Pride. It explored domestic abuse in the Irish Traveller Community in America and screened at the Woodstock Film Festival and the Irish Film Festival in Los Angeles. The Pier is Gerard Hurley’s second feature film.
For further information, interviews and images contact
Email: thepierfilm@gmail.com
