To celebrate Colin Broderick’s birthday, this January 2, 2021, we will dedicate this blog to talking about the release of his most recent feature film. According to Hollywood Reporter, “Indie Rights has swooped on worldwide distribution for the Irish drama A Bend in the River, directed by bestselling author Colin Broderick (Church’s End, Orangutan, That’s That).”
The movie, which was partly written and edited in Woodstock, NY tells the story of a writer who goes home to Ireland after spending twenty five years abroad in New York.
The film commission reached out to Colin regarding his sophomore effort. His previous film can be streamed online at Emerald City.
“One of the main challenges was to create a visually compelling narrative to represent Matt Donnelly’s inner life,” Broderick answered from his new home in Jersey. “When we shot the movie in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland I had a sense the energy of the countryside really got pulled into the emotional core of the movie. Thirty years of war leaves a residue. There was this feeling that it was hard to tell where the countryside ended and the graveyard began. There’s some profound pain there that’s still being processed and I wanted to make sure we honored all that with some compassion. So the challenge became, how do you portray that feeling to the audience... because Northern Ireland, in a sense, is a state of mind. “
“We had two very capable editors who had started on this movie at the outset, one in Los Angeles, and another in Dublin, but at some point I realized that I was going to have to be in the editing room myself to get at the essence of the thing. It’s such a personal movie. That’s when I made the decision to take the movie home to Woodstock where I was living. My friend Jon Greenhalgh had just come off editing a couple of feature films and I asked him to come on board. Jon made the great documentary Team Foxcatcher about the Wrestler Dave Schultz. He’s really got wrestling in his blood. And that’s what it was like with him and I in the editing room for six months on this thing every day... We wrestled over every single frame. It was an incredible experience. Challenging and rewarding. At some point, the aesthetic crystallized, and we just followed that path until the movie revealed itself. I wanted to honor the place of my childhood. Lay the ghosts to rest. What better place to do that than Woodstock NY!”
Editor and filmmaker Jon Greenhalgh was busy working on a sizzle reel for the new doc series about the Gracie Family - the prominent martial arts family from Rio de Janeiro, known for their creation of the self-defense martial arts system of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu.
“Colin has developed a unique style of storytelling, steeped in the turbulent history of Northern Ireland, and rooted in personal experience,” answered Greenhalgh. “At his core, Colin is a writer — my job, as his editor, was to help sweep away the narrative distractions, and allow his words to take center stage.”
“It’s great news,” added Laurent Rejto of the Hudson Valley Film Commission. “Colin is so deserving. He’s compassionate and an incredibly hard worker, who is as passionate about his art as he is about his friends and family. Before the pandemic, we were getting weekly updates at our Sunday poker game, which included Colin, Jon and a bunch of local filmmakers. Josh Brolin, who was one of the executive producers on A Bend in the River, even joined us one week. Colin and Jon mostly wrestled over poker chips, but sometimes we’d get snippets about specific scenes during poker, and we would get updates about other projects Colin was juggling, including frequent travels back to Ireland.”
A Bend in the River was produced by Julie Ryanfrom MK1 Studios and exec produced by Josh Brolin, Con McCormack, and Don Cisternino. The film was shot exclusively in County Tyrone, Ireland.
Acquired by Indie Rights from MK1 Studios, the film is now due for a combined digital and theatrical release from March.
The Hudson Valley Film Commission is a 501c3 non profit organization (EIN 85-2021435) that helps productions secure local crew, cast, locations, vendors, post production facilities, and more.
SELECT Hudson Valley productions:
To view full list or to stream regional films, visit www.hudsonvalleyfilmcommission.org/streamfest
The Hating Game • The Green Veil • Linoleum • The Sixth Reel • Diaries of an Exchange Student • Werewolves Within (Ubisoft Film) • Things Heard and Seen (Netflix) • Billions (Showtime) • Monsterland (Hulu) • Audrey • The Plot Against America (HBO) • Silent Retreat (Miramax) • Black Bear • Lapsis • Foxhole • The Undoing (HBO) • I Know This Much Is True (HBO)• Save Yourselves • I’m Thinking of Ending Things (Netflix) • Scare Me • A Quiet Place 2 (Paramount) • Can You Keep a Secret? (BCDF) • Panic (Amazon Prime) • High Maintenance (HBO) • Shirley (Killer Films) • Driveways • The Dead Don't Die (Focus Features) • Avengers: Endgame (Marvel Studios) • The Irishman (Netflix) • The Climb • Swallow • Skin • The Mountain • A Quiet Place (Paramount) • Fabled • Then Came You (BCDF) • Furlough • A Vigilante • Nancy • Diane • The Miseducation of Cameron Post • La Devotee by Panic at the Disco! • It Comes at Night • Super Dark Times • The Seagull • HAPPYish (Showtime) • The Ticket • Growing Up Smith • Cold in July • Katie Fforde Films • True Story • The Sisterhood of Night • The Better Angels • We Are What We Are • The Bourne Legacy • Frances Ha • Our Idiot Brother • First Winter • The Last Keepers (BCDF) • Francine • Peace, Love, & Misunderstanding • Martha Marcy May Marlene • Higher Ground • Rocksteady • Bitter Feast • Stake Land • Man on Wire • Taking Woodstock (Focus Features) • American Gangster (Imagine Entertainment) • Michael Clayton • The Human Footprint (National Geographic) • The Night Listener • Stephanie Daley • War of the Worlds (Dreamworks) • Down to the Bone • Personal Velocity • Prey
The Hudson Valley Film Commission is supported in part by Dutchess Tourism, Markertek, Putnam County, the Wood Dock Foundation and private support from kind donors. Please support our continued efforts with a tax-deductible contribution @ hudsonvalleyfilmcommission.org/support