Stephen Bradley’s new effort, a sports comedy mockumentary titled Fran the Man, is set to have its world premiere at the Dublin International Film Festival on 1 March (20 February-2 March).

Before embarking on the making of this film, Bradley directed three fiction features and numerous feature documentaries, TV series and stand-up comedy shows. He was most recently story producer on Last One Laughing for Amazon Prime starring Graham Norton and Aisling Bea. 

Bradley’s previous feature, Noble (2016), won six audience awards at US festivals and was selected for Cannes Cinéphiles. Shot in Vietnam and England, it starred Deirdre O’Kane (IFTA Best Actress), Brendan Coyle, Sarah Greene (IFTA Best Supporting Actress) and Academy Award nominee Ruth Negga. The helmer’s debut feature, Sweety Barrett (1998), was headlined by Brendan Gleeson, Liam Cunningham and Andy Serkis.

Penned by Richie Conroy and based on the original TV show Fran, which aired on Setanta Sports and TV3 from 2009-2011 to much acclaim, the film follows Fran Costello, who is living his dream of competing in the FAI Cup for the first time with his beloved amateur club, St. Peter’s Celtic. 

However, when Fran discovers that some of his players have taken a bribe to fix the match, he turns detective in the hope of catching the culprits. As everyone becomes a suspect in this whodunnit, Fran’s life is further complicated by a slow-burning romance with Jackie Charlton, one of his player's mothers. For someone who has used football to shy away from life, Fran is suddenly thrust headfirst into all it has to offer.

The cast is led by Darragh Humphreys (portraying Costello), Ardal O’Hanlon, Amy Huberman, Risteárd Cooper, Toni O’Rourke, and Deirdre O’Kane. One of the supporting roles is played by Eddie Marsan.

Key crew members include DoP Ross O’Callaghan, production designer Paki Smith, editor Stephen Vickers, sound designer Mick Cassidy, costume designer Kathy Strachan, and make-up artist Barbara Conway.

The film was shot in Dublin, in particular in the areas of Sallynoggin (including locations such as the St Joseph’s Athletic Football Club and San Siro Chipper) and in Dun Laoghaire (on locations such as the Miami Cafe, the Royal Marine Hotel, Vincent Finnegan Estate Agent Poolbeg, and the Pidgeon House).

Fran the Man is produced by Collie McCarthy for Ireland’s Forty Foot Pictures, with support from Screen Ireland and RTÉ. Executive producers are Paul Grindey and Charles Moore for Viewfinder Film (UK), Greg Martin for Screen Ireland, Conroy, Jakub Brecka and Gregory Pepin.

Volta Pictures will release it Irish theatres on 11 April. Sales are co-handled by CAA Media Finance and LevelK.

Speaking on the film’s forthcoming release, Conroy said: “It's such a privilege that my debut original feature will soon be available to an Irish cinema audience. Fran the Man is a rare thing - a four-quadrant movie - that is the perfect tonic for anyone who is looking for a laugh, an engaging scéal [‘story’ in Irish] and a bit of feel-good escapism."