With a cast and crew largely from the Midlands, Rebecca Daly’s stunning new Irish feature The Other Side of Sleep, starring Antonia Cambell-Hughes, will be released nationwide from March 16, with a special opening night event in Birr Arts Centre.
Shot entirely on location in Offaly, The Other Side of Sleep is an acclaimed debut by Irish filmmaker and Athlone native, Rebecca Daly, with a powerful and compelling performance from Antonia Campbell-Hughes; recent recipient of a Shooting Star award at the Berlin International Film Festival. This hotly-anticipated psychological thriller made history at the Cannes Film Festival in 2011 as the first film directed by an Irish woman to be selected for the festival. The film, produced by Fastnet Films, also screened at the Toronto International Film Festival and was nominated for Best Director and Best Actress at the Irish Film and Television Awards 2012.
A sleepwalker since childhood, Arlene works in the local factory of the small Irish town. When a young woman is found dead in the woods, Arlene is forced to her confront a tragedy from her own childhood. Ghosts of the past and present inexorably draw Arlene deeper into the tradgedy; she becomes close to the victim’s grieving sister (Vicky Joyce ) and entangled with the dead woman’s lover (newcomer Sam Keeley ). Deprived of sleep, fearful, and paranoid, Arlene’s sleepwalking and waking reality become more blurred and nightmarish.
The Other Side of Sleep is, Rebecca Daly’s first feature film. An Athlone native, she came to prominence with short film Joyriders that picked up Best Irish Short at the Galway Film Fleadh and a Best Short IFTA. With an excellent eye for detail, Ms Daly creates a unique narrative that captures the trauma of loss and the haunting image of a life frozen in time, as well as the sometimes lurid media interest in murder. Ms Daly said, ”I wanted to make a film that got under the skin of a thriller, that looked at grief and loss as confusing, haunting, terrifying. I wanted to get at that feeling of walking down a deserted road at night and suddenly becoming aware of your exposure, your vulnerability.”
Leading a fantastic ensemble cast in The Other Side of Sleep, Antonia Campbell-Hughes is known for her success in Jack Dee’s TV comedy Lead Balloon. This year she stars in another upcoming cinema release, Lotus Eaters. Other key cast members include two veteran Irish actresses of stage and screen, Olwen Fouere and Cathy Belton, as well as hot newcomer Sam Keeley who has gone on to star in RTÉ series RAW as well as Lenny Abrahamson’s forthcoming film What Richard Did.
