Is Sundance Ready for Irish Rap Trio Kneecap’s Wild Michael Fassbender-Starring Biopic? They ‘Just Don’t Give a S—,’ Director Says (EXCLUSIVE)
17.01.2024 - 16:18
/ variety.com
Alex Ritman One of the reasons Rich Peppiatt moved to Belfast was, he claims, for a quieter life with his family away from the London scene. Unfortunately, within a few months he’d become entangled with the hard-partying and anarchic Northern Irish rap group Kneecap and, as the British tabloid journalist turned filmmaker tells Variety, was “rolling home at 7 in the morning on a Tuesday.” Such nocturnal binges can now, however, be squarely put down as part of a crucial movie-making process.
Several years (and many, many late-night sessions) after their first boozy meeting, Peppiatt heads to Sundance with “Kneecap,” his wildly energetic comedy almost-biopic about the three-piece band starring one of cinema’s biggest names: Michael Fassbender. “Kneecap” is Sundance’s first Irish-language feature.
But for all the history-making when it bows in the festival’s NEXT section on Jan. 18, it may end up being the rappers themselves who steal the headlines.
The trio’s unashamedly outspoken and provocative nature, particularly their recent vocal condemnation of Israel’s attacks on Gaza, has already been testing the nerves of sensitive Hollywood types ahead of their arrival in Park City, admits Peppiatt. “There have been some very gentle discussions about them having to be careful about what they say, discussions which have been met with a resounding middle finger,” he says.
Made up of MCs Mo Chara and Móglaí Bap and the balaclava-clad DJ Próvaí (who all play themselves in the film, making their acting debuts), Kneecap only began releasing music in 2017 (with the single “C.E.A.R.T.A”, meaning “rights” in Irish). But they’ve already earned their notoriety stripes on home soil, rapping about politics, their working class lives and
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