AFM 2017: FLOAT LIKE A BUTTERFLY Wraps Production In Time For Buyers
Carmel Winters, the award-winning helmer of the 2010 Dublin Critics’ Circle favorite, SNAP, is back in the limelight seven years later. Her new film, Float Like A Butterfly, is currently shopping around at the American Film Market and Screendaily presented a first look photo for the upcoming Irish boxing drama which you can take a gander at below:
Teenage Irish Traveller Francis lost her mother in a fight. The same fight which led to her father being locked up in jail for the last ten years. Francis has never forgiven the police sergeant who she feels is responsible for this. She’s got fighting in her blood, just like her idol Muhammad Ali inspiring her to be the Greatest.
When her father gets out of jail, Francis is starry-eyed. Together they can take on the world. But her father doesn’t turn out to be the hero she remembers. Required to keep the peace due to the conditions of his parole, he’s forced to endure humiliation from the police sergeant, much to Francis’ horror. And to make up for lost time, he is determined to make a man of his son and an obedient wife of his daughter.
Francis never wanted to clash with her beloved father, but when he forces her to give up her dream of boxing and behave like a “lady”, she is left with no choice. Cast out by the world and her family alike, Francis must fight even for the right to fight. Some people say it doesn’t matter whether you win or lose. But Francis knows that losing is not an option. This is a fight she has been training for all her life. And she knows, the only way she can end this war is to win it.
The film hails from WestEnd Films who are presenting the film to buyers in Santa Monica, and sits under their female-centric film shingle, WeLove, which launched last June. Rounding out the main cast is are actress Hazel Doupe, Dara Devaney, and Aidan O’Hare with Lalor Roddy, and Hilda Fay.
The film has since wrapped production with Martina Niland and David Collins producing and Cathleen Dore serving as co-producing. Joined by Broadcasting Authority of Ireland and RTÉ Television, the project was financed by The Irish Film Board whose Lesley McKimm served as executive producer.
Director Carmel Winters said: “Even more so since his death, Muhammad Ali remains a powerful and timeless symbol of the Champion of the Underdog. It feels timely that now on our screens we will see a young Irish Traveller girl, Francis, take on the mantle of his legacy with her own gut-wrenching and ultimately jubilant story.”