Cannes Film Festival (American Pavilion) 2019 – Irish Goodbye
Strangers from opposite ends of the earth: Nizar, a Syrian refugee and Eric an Irish tourist, meet in the City of Angels and embark on a journey of trust, abandonment, tragedy and privilege. The consequences of their encounter will stay with them long after the night is over.
Interview with Writer/Director/Producer Adetokumboh M’Cormack and Writer Matt Feit
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
ADETOKUMBOH: I knew I wanted to tell a story about the conflict in Syria. I am originally from Sierra Leone and I’ve seen what a ten-year civil war can do to a country and its people. As a kid, I remember feeling frustrated that the outside world just didn’t seem to know or care that tens of thousands of people were being killed and many more displaced. So now I am a filmmaker, I felt a responsibility to shine a light on what was happening.
MATT: There were a lot of reasons for me to want to be involved with Irish Goodbye. Most important was that it offered me the opportunity to tell a story about atypical and complicated characters and address themes that were important to me.
With the character of Nizar, I wanted to explore what it’s like for an introvert when such a big extrovert shows them attention. How a person can allow another person at times even disrespect their boundaries and yet still want to be around that person, like a moth drawn to a flame.
With the character of Eric, it was more about exploring that place where oblivious optimism meets straight white male privilege. Eric is an over the top dynamo when he’s on the prowl and he means well, but he’s oblivious as to how his words and actions affect others.
And of course we made this film because representation matters, and there are too few non-stereotypical leading roles for Muslim or Arab characters.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
MATT: You should watch Irish Goodbye if you’re looking for a thoughtful character study of atypical leads and an examination of themes and issues like the conflict in Syria or people struggling with balancing their sexual identity with the taboos of their faith.
ADETOKUMBOH: Watch Irish Goodbye to see two fantastic leading actor performances. Abubakr Ali and Jack Lowe really created wonderfully complex, nuanced characters that felt real and relatable. Jacob Basheer and Youness also give some terrific supporting performances. And Yousof Sekander’s cinematography is just exquisite.
MATT: And you should watch Irish Goodbye, only if you’re prepared to simultaneously manage tears of sadness and joy by the time it’s over.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
MATT: The film examines different ways in which we as people leave without saying goodbye, and how the consequences of those actions echo forward into our lives. And as aforementioned, exploring themes of sexual identity, taboos of faith, and straight white male privilege were all very important to me as a writer and a producer on Irish Goodbye.
ADETOKUMBOH: Identity and coming to terms with one’s identity is something we explore in this coming of age film. Our lead is forced to look at himself and look at certain aspects of his past and ask himself, is he going to stay in the past or is he going move forward? Is he going to embrace and love himself for who he really is?
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
ADETOKUMBOH: the script underwent quite a few changes. There were several other characters in the original script we ultimately decided to cut out to make it a more focused story. Also, the original script happened over a couple of days and then Matt and I sat down and thought, “what if all this happens over the course of one night instead?”
MATT: The film evolved so very much from when Adetokumboh first approached me with it. It was just entitled Nizar, after the lead characters name, and the whole tone of the piece was much lighter. When I came on board it was important for me to dive into the characters and find aspects of their lives that I could relate to and explore.
I wanted the ending to be uncomfortable and complicated and uplifting at the same time. I wanted something bittersweet and tragic and inspirational all in the same cocktail. I feel like we achieved that. We hope the audience of the film does too.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
ADETOKUMBOH: The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive so far. I can’t tell you how many people have told me they identified with Nizar’s character and saw themselves reflected on the screen.
MATT: We’ve received some really great feedback on Irish Goodbye. Of course, no film is made for every audience, but the thoughtful fans of our film have been very generous and heartfelt in their praise thus far. And because some of the issues our characters are wrestling with are so universal, different people will see different parts of themselves mirrored in the story.
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
MATT: As a creative, you need to be able to hear feedback both positive and negative objectively and sort it into things that you agree with and things that you just don’t. It’s such a fantastic honor to have someone take the time to review your art and talk to you about how it affected them. Unfortunately, the main challenges I’ve faced with this film were in a handful of cases of homophobic or Islamophobic comments from friends or colleagues who didn’t understand why it was important for me to explore people so different from myself or the usual cinematic tropes.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
ADETOKUMBOH: As a filmmaker, the most wonderful feeling in the universe is to share your art with a new audience. We felt that this was an important story and being able to share it with more people means we get to share our message and hopefully get the opportunity to tell more important stories.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
ADETOKUMBOH: We would love this film to be seen worldwide so would love festival directors and buyers and distributors on board to get the film out there. We are also discussing making this into a feature-length film in the hopes that it would reach more people.
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
MATT: I hope that our audience can appreciate the themes we’ve tried to explore in Irish Goodbye. I hope that they can find something in the characters that they can relate to and learn from. And in the end, I hope they enjoy a bittersweet cry of equal parts of sadness and joy that only a good tragedy can provide.
ADETOKUMBOH: My hope is that a film like this can open doors for more stories about people underrepresented in the media. Having had so many people tell me after watching this film that “Nizar’s story was their story too” made me realize that representation truly does matter. People need to feel seen. Their stories need to be told and their voices need to be heard. We need interesting stories, with robust, layered characters that minorities can relate to.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
MATT: There are so many topics that this film touches upon including but not limited to-- wrestling with sexual identity and faith, the unintended consequences of our actions, even ones we could never imagine are impactful to others. It was important for us to be one more reminder of the conflict in Syria that too many in the world are ignoring. Whenever you can remind the world that people are being murdered every single day, you’re helping to tell a truth. And isn’t that the purpose of art? To truth tell? I like to think so.
Would you like to add anything else?
ADETOKUMBOH: We are so proud to be a part of such a fantastic project with so many talented human beings both in front of and behind the camera lens. We can’t wait to share more stories with the universe.
What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?
ADETOKUMBOH: I wrote, directed and produced the short film The German King about Rudolf Douala Manga Bell: a Cameroonian King who stands up and rebels against Kaiser Wilhelm II’s oppressive colonial rule in 1914 at the start of World War 1. I’m also currently developing the feature film version.
MATT: Right now, I’m very excited to be promoting this film, Irish Goodbye and making sure as many people see it as possible. I’m also currently developing multiple projects with Adetokumboh including a feature about Samuel Coleridge Taylor, a legendary figure in the realm of music and civil rights. If a story is complicated, asks tough questions, and features plenty of intersectional representation, we’re interested in working on it together.
Interview: May 2019
We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series, music video, women's films, LGBTQIA+, POC, First Nations, scifi, supernatural, horror, world cinema. If you have just made a film - we'd love to hear from you. Or if you know a filmmaker - can you recommend us? More info: Carmela
Irish Goodbye
Strangers from opposite ends of the earth: Nizar, a Syrian refugee and Eric an Irish tourist, meet in the City of Angels and embark on a journey of trust, abandonment, tragedy and privilege. The consequences of their encounter will stay with them long after the night is over.
Length: 18:22
Director: Adetokumboh M’Cormack
Producer: Adetokumboh M’Cormack
Writer: Adetokumboh M’Cormack, Matt Feit
About the writer, director and producer:
ADETOKUMBOH M’CORMACK was born in Freetown, Sierra Leone to parents who were Diplomats and raised mostly in Nigeria and Kenya. He is a graduate of the prestigious Conservatory of Theatre Arts and Film at SUNY Purchase College where he studied Acting. His acting credits include Columbia Pictures’ Battle Los Angeles, Blood Diamond, NCIS, Castlevania and the film Boxed in which he plays Henry “Box” Brown, a slave who ships himself to freedom in 1849. Adetokumboh also wrote the short film The German King which was a Best screenplay official selection at the Cindependent International Film festival in 2018. He recently completed directing The German King set to hit the festival circuit in 2019. He is currently developing a feature-length version of the film he will also direct. Adetokumboh has also produced music videos like How It Go by Anth featuring Conor Maynard, October 96 which won Best Music Video at the Columbus Black International Film Festival. He also produced the End Ebola Now PSA’s to raise awareness about the disease during the Ebola crises in West Africa. Other producing credits include the web series Me + 1 and A Kiss at Midnight which he also directed.
MATT FEIT (Co-writer) was born and raised in New York, studied at Emerson College in Boston and currently lives in Los Angeles. He wrote Irish Goodbye (2018) with Adetokumboh M’Cormack Cormack and also wrote A Kiss At Midnight (2018) directed by Adetokumboh M’Cormack.
Key cast: Abubakr Ali, Jack Lowe
Looking for: sales agents, film festival directors, producers, buyers, distributors
Facebook: Irish Goodbye
Twitter: @irishgoodbye_
Instagram: @irishgoodbyefilm
Hashtags used: #irishgoodbyefilm #irishgoodbye
Website: irishgoodbyefilm.com
Other: IMDb
Funders: Self funded
Where can I watch it next and in the coming month? American Pavilion Emerging Filmmaker Showcase at the Cannes Film Festival, Sunday May 19th At 4pm