Distribution matters

A number of Irish titles are being released over the coming months.

The first will be Juanita Wilson's As if I am Not There (Element Pictures)which goes on release on March 4 with a '16' classification, following its first Irish screening during JDIFF.

Another title being screened during JDIFF and which has been classified '16' prior to its release is Carmel Winters's Snap (Eclipse). It does not yet have a release date.

David Keating's Wake Wood (Vertigo Films) and PJ Dillon's Catalyst project Rewind are meanwile both scheduled for a release on March 25.

Killing Bono (Paramount Pictures) will be released the following week, on April 1st. It has a '15A' classification, as has Conor Horgan's Catalyst project One Hundred Mornings (Blinder Films) which is another likely release in the coming months.

Mark O'Connor's Between the Canals is getting a release on March 18th, the same date as the latest Ken Loach film, Route Irish which, despite the title, has little to do with these shores.

Route Irish is also being shown at JDIFF but I'm only mentioning it here because of the unusual nature of its release by UK company, Artificial Eye. It is getting what they term in the trade a 'multi-platform' release.

What this means is that Route Irish will be available on March 18th in cinemas, Sky Movies Box Office, and Curzon On Demand. The film will be released in at least 20 cinemas across the UK (and Ireland?) from 18 March, the day it will also become available to Sky Anytime and Sky Movies Box Office’s 10m subscribers for two weeks only.

This will be the fourth collaboration between Artificial Eye and Sky, the previous simultaneous releases being Edge of Heaven, Julia and Life During Wartime. In addition, the film will be available day and date via Curzon On Demand, the new 'on demand' service from Curzon Cinemas, as well as via FilmFlex.

Artificial Eye and Curzon are part of the one exhibition/distribution outfit. According to Philip Knatchbull, CEO of Curzon Artificial Eye, "This is the fourth film we have co-released with BSkyB where 'Public' and 'Home' Cinema become synonymous. The inclusion this time of both Curzon On Demand and FilmFlex give added impetus in establishing this new release pattern for future films."