Kneecap brought the craic - and a PSNI van - to the Sundance Film Festival this week and will be returning home to Belfast with a major sale to their credit.
The Irish language hip-hop trio - Móglaí Bap, Mo Chara, DJ Próvaí - was in Utah this week as their semi-autobiographical film “Kneecap” marked its history-making world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival.
"Kneecap" has the dual distinction of being the first Irish language film to be selected for Sundance, as well as the first non-US film to ever be selected for the festival’s NEXT section.
No strangers to controversy, Kneecap staged a stunt worthy of the hype surrounding the occasion, arriving at the Sundance Film Festival's red carpet on Thursday night in a fully kitted-out Northern Irish PSNI Land Rover, complete with the band’s name spray painted across the vehicle.
Watch Kneecap catch a ride to Sundance in a PSNI Land Rover:
The latest stunt, a collaboration with the Dublin-based Tenth Man Agency, was designed to provoke reaction and conversation around the Irish language and Irish politics as the world watches.
“When we were making plans for Sundance we knew we wanted to show the world what Kneecap are all about," Daniel Lambert, the band's manager, said.
"We wanted to do something big, something Sundance won’t forget.
"So we spoke with the team at The Tenth Man and hatched a plan to reclaim the notorious Peeler Land Rover and commandeer it as our own.”
Watch Kneecap arrive at Sundance in a PSNI Land Rover:
The stunt drew awareness to the premiere of "Kneecap," though judging by reviews of the film, the trio might not have needed the stunt at all.
IndieWire calls the film “delightfully spiky," Collider says it "authentically captures the Irish rap group," ScreenDaily says it's "a riot," and The Wrap concludes the movie is "a snort of ketamine in a very uptight world."
On Friday, the day after the film's well-received premiere, Variety reported that "Kneecap" had been acquired by Sony Pictures Classics in the "first major sale" at this year's festival.
Sony Pictures Classics has acquired all rights to the title for North America, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Turkey, and the Middle East, Variety said.
Kneecap congratulated Sony Pictures Classics on the purchase:
We’d like to congratulate Sony Pictures on their purchase of our film for North America, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Turkey and the Middle East.
Clever folks 🇮🇪🔥https://t.co/YlwbSsDMHq
— KNEECAP (@KNEECAPCEOL) January 19, 2024
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