Gerard Hurley's feature film THE PIER to tour
The
Pier, by Gerard Hurley, to tour locally & nationally
Up and coming Irish
film-maker Gerard Hurley combines traditional storytelling techniques and
experiences gained while traveling to weave a wonderfully heart-felt story
in The Pier, a film that is picking up rave plaudits at home and
abroad.
The Pier is
a delicately paced story that pits father and son against one another in a
battle that is as old as humanity. While the viewer longs for reconciliation,
director Gerard Hurley is a masterful storyteller and it's never quite apparent
whether the two protagonists will figuratively bury the hatchet or literally
bury a hatchet in one another.
The Pier which
was filmed in New York and in various locations in West Cork including Goleen,
Ballydehob, Dunmanus, Schull, Skibbereen, Castletownsend, Castlehaven, Tragumna
and Bantry stars Karl Johnson, Gerard Hurley and Lili Taylor. After twenty
years of no contact with his son, Larry McCarthy (Karl Johnson) pretends to be
dying in order to trick his son, Jack (Gerard Hurley) into returning home to
West Cork. When Jack arrives he is furious to find that his father is alive and
kicking and, if anything, even more furious, when he's tricked into
staying.
"The Pier is
a simple story about the relationship between a father and son. They haven't
spoken in years and the father pretends to be on his deathbed to get the son to
come home. Needless to say the son is less than impressed to see his dad
playing golf in a field of cattle when he does return," said director,
Gerard Hurley. "At the core of the film is Larry's denial about the death
of his wife, Jack's mother. The story explores the difficult and painful, yet
often hilarious ways they try to communicate. Forging a begrudging peace, the
reality of life intrudes when Larry discloses a painful truth that has the
power to either rupture their relationship forever or bind them closer
together"
The Pier has
screened at festivals as far from home as the Czech Republic, where it had its
world premiere at the prestigious Karlovy Vary International Film Festival and
in Israel, where it played in the Jerusalem International Film Festival.
The Pier had its Irish premiere at the Galway Film Fleadh and has screened at
the Corona Cork Film Festival, Thessaloniki International Film festival in
Greece and Tbilisi International Film Festival in Georgia.
Produced on a very
small budget, The Pier has secured national distribution and
will screen around the country in January and
February.
Screening dates and venues
are:
Sunday: January 29th @
The IFI, Dublin
Tuesday: February 2nd @
Classic Listowel, Kerry
Friday: February 3rd -
5th @ Skibbereen Town Hall, Co Cork
Friday: February 3rd -
9th @ Eye Cinema, Galway
Saturday: February 4th
- 9th @ Park Cinema, Clonakilty, Co Cork
Sunday: February 5th -
8th @ Cinemax Bantry, Co Cork
Sunday: February 5th -
8th @ Triskel Arts Centre, Cork (Q and A on the 5th)
Monday: February 6th,
7th @ Macroom Briary Gap, Cork
Tuesday: February 7th@
Phoenix Cinema, Dingle, Kerry
Tuesday: February 7th @ Eye Cinema, Galway (Special Q and A)
Thursday: February 9th
@ Carrick On Shannon Multiplex, Laois (Q and A)
Wednesday:
Febuary 15th, 18th @ The Model Sligo
Tickets for The
Pier are available by contacting the venues directly. For more
information see www.thepierfilm.com
About Gerard Hurley
Director Gerard Hurley
was born in West Cork and emigrated to Switzerland when he was sixteen to work
with horses. In 1986, he emigrated to the USA to work in the oil fields in
Oklahoma. Beginning in the early 1990's, he took jobs in the Camera and Art
Departments of Independent Film Productions in New York and began writing
scripts. He has penned 20 screenplays and sold options on those to such
Hollywood heavy hitters as Stanley Tucci (Big Night, Imposters)
and Charles Wessler (Something About Mary). Hurley has also worked as a
script consultant on a number of features. Success as a scriptwriter led to
work as a script consultant and as a director.
In 2008, Hurley wrote,
directed, produced and starred in his first feature film, The Pride.
It explored domestic abuse in the Irish Traveller community in America and
screened at the Woodstock Film Festival and the Irish Film Festival in Los
Angeles. The Pier is Gerard Hurley's second feature film.
Published on: 25 January, 2012
