That They May Face the Rising Sun – Watch the trailer for the film adaptation of John McGahern’s acclaimed novel

That They May Face the Rising Sun is set in the late 1970s in rural Ireland, just before the communications revolution vastly changed the dynamics of these small, close-knit communities. Joe and Kate Ruttledge, having returned from London five years earlier to set up home near where Joe grew up, are now deeply embedded in their small, lakeside community. To a great extent, this film is a portrait of a community and a way of life in rural Ireland that remained largely unchanged for many decades until the coming of radio, television and phones. In that society, neighbours helped each other with all the big jobs of the farming calendar – lambing, shearing, saving hay, cutting turf, etc – and visited each other’s houses to share news and talk by the fire. Complex, but mutually understood codes of manners determined people’s obligations to each other.

That They May Face the Rising Sun is based on the novel of the same name by celebrated Irish writer, John McGahern. It is a deeply rooted portrait of a lost Ireland, with a tangible, authentic sense of place in an elegiac and poetic exploration of language, landscape and life itself.

The film stars Barry Ward (Bad Sisters, Extra Ordinary, Dating Amber) and Anna Bederke (Soul Kitchen, Frau Ella)

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Award-winning Irish director, writer, and producer, Pat Collins is also known for narrative features Song of Granite and Silence, as well as documentary films including The Dance and Henry Glassie: Field Work. Since 1999, Collins has made over 30 films, many of which have premiered at festivals including SXSW, the London International Film Festival, the Absolute Gallery at Galway Arts Festival, BFI London Film Festival, Cork Film Festival, among others.

Opening April 11th in NYC at the Quad, then across the US in April.