Protagonist boards What Richard Did

by Naman Ramachandran

31/08/2012 - Protagonist Pictures has acquired What Richard Did [trailer] (pictured), directed by Lenny Abrahamson (Garage [trailer, film focus]). Protagonist will handle all international sales except the UK and Ireland that is being looked after by Element Pictures Distribution. The film will enjoy its international premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival next week. The European premiere of the film will be on September 30, as the closing night film of the Irish Film Institute’s (IFI) month long 20-year celebrations at Dublin’s Temple Bar building. The film will release in Ireland October 5.

Abrahamson said, “The IFI has been a big part of my cinema life over the last 20 years – both as a viewer and a maker – and I have a deep affection for the building and for the institution as a whole. So I am delighted that What Richard Did will have its European premiere there. It feels like home.”

What Richard Did is a contemporary Dublin-set tale that follows a group of privileged teenagers the summer after they leave school with the focus being on sports star Richard whose life is irrevocably changed after an act of violence. The film is loosely based on award-winning Irish author Kevin Power’s 2008 novel Bad Day at Blackrock.

The IFI celebrations kick off on September 1 with a screening of the first film ever shown at the IFI, Stephen Gyllenhall’s Waterland, with cast members Jeremy Irons and Sinead Cusack in attendance.

Meanwhile, the Irish Film and Television Academy is celebrating 20 years of seminal Irish film The Crying Game on September 4. Writer/Director Neil Jordan will participate in an on-stage discussion following the screening.