Irish film wins prestigious award at Sundance Festival

A low-budget Irish film has taken one of the most prestigious prizes at the most important US film festival over the weekend.

A low-budget Irish film has taken one of the most prestigious prizes at the most important US film festival over the weekend.

The film, Once, received the World Cinema Audience Award at the closing ceremony of the Sundance Film Festival - which was established by actor-director Robert Redford to foster independent productions - in Park City, Utah.

"I hope I don't wreck this by crying - doing something Irish and emotional," the film's writer-director John Carney said as he collected the prize on Saturday night.

Onceis a musical, and more words are sung than spoken as it charts the tender relationship that forms between two musicians - a Grafton Street busker (Glen Hansard) and a Czech pianist (Marketa Irglova) who sells roses and the Big Issueon the street.

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Carney, who directed On the Edgeand has been one of the team behind the RTÉ series Bachelors Walk, affectionately observes these two lonely characters as they are drawn to each other, and their instinctive chemistry is beautifully expressed when they make sweet music on an improvised duet.

Irglova graces the film with a serene, endearing presence and Hansard, in his first movie since The Commitments15 years ago, performs with the passion he exudes on stage with his band, The Frames.

The film will be shown at the Dublin International Film Festival next month.

"We have had a wonderful reaction at Sundance," the film's executive producer, David Collins of Dublin-based Samson Films told The Irish Times. "So many people wanted to see the film that the festival added four extra screenings. And Glen and Marketa have been singing on stage after every screening. The audience loved them."

So did the critics. "I liked the movie right from the opening scene," Scott Foundas wrote in LA Weekly. "It's the sort of completely unhyped, unheralded little gem you go to a festival like Sundance hoping to find, and every once in a while, do."

"The movie pulled all the right strings," according to popular film website, Ain't It Cool.

The film attracted the attention of many international buyers at Sundance, concluding in a deal between Samson Films and the prominent US company Summit Entertainment to sell the cinema, DVD and TV distribution rights to Once around the world.