SANCTUARY, the Galway made film, starring actors from Munster Avenue's Blue Teapot Theatre Company, with a screenplay by Galway writer Christian O'Reilly, opens in cinemas tomorrow.
The film tackles the issue of sexual and romantic relationships between intellectually disabled people. Larry (Kieran Coppinger ), who has Down Syndrome, and Sophie (Charlene Kelly ), who has severe epilepsy, long to be together but society’s rules keep them apart. During a group outing to the cinema their care worker, Tom (pRobert Doherty ), sneaks them into a nearby hotel and books them a room. Are they aware that in Ireland they are about to break the law?
The film was screened at the 2016 Galway Film Fleadh and has since gone on to win critical acclaim. Charlie McBride for the Galway Advertiser wrote: "Coppinger and Kelly deliver heartfelt, sensitive and beguiling performances and their ‘close encounter’ is utterly compelling...Galway looks great in the movie...O’Reilly’s script – brilliantly enlarging the original play to fill the larger canvas afforded by the film - is both laugh-out loud funny and hugely heart-warming."
Directed by Len Collin, the cast also includes Patrick Becker, Valerie Egan, Jennifer Cox, Paul Connolly, Frank Butcher, Emer Macken, Michael Hayes, and Karen Murphy. Rated 15a, it can be seen in The Eye, Wellpark, and the IMC Galway.
