It’s possible that some of the people that managed to catch Rich Peppiat’s Kneecap at its Sundance Film Festival premiere were not aware that the Irish hip-hop trio at the center of the story was a real Belfast-based hip-hop act that had been finding growing success at home and abroad.
That’s because Kneecap is a real group with one of their most distinctive traits being the fact that they rap in the Irish language, which is only used by a small portion of the population of Belfast, and a much, much smaller portion of the read of the world. They also use their lyrics to fight back against the British oppression that has plagued their portion of the country for many decades.
Kneecap is by no means your typical hip-hop biopic ala Eminem’s 8 Mile or 50 Cents’ Get Rich or Die Tryin’ (directed by Irish filmmaker Jim Sheridan, no less!), because it’s very much a fictionalized account of how two young hoodlums, constantly getting into trouble with “the peelers” (i.e the police), had an encounter with a local schoolteacher, who ends up writing music to back their poetry… and the rest is history. The movie was even able to get some big-time Oscar-nominated clout in Michael Fassbender, one of the few high-profile Irish actors who already spoke Irish.
Recently, CinemaDaily US spoke with the three members of Kneecap – Móglaí Bap, Mo Chara, and DJ Próvai – as well as the writer and director of Kneecap, Rich Peppiat, for video interviews that you can watch above or below to learn more about the movie, what is real and what is fiction.
Exclusive Interview with Director Rich Peppiatt
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Screenwriter/Director: Rich Peppiat
Cast: Móglaí Bap, Mo Chara, DJ Próvai, Josie Walker, Michael Fassbender, Jessica Reynolds, Fionnuala Flaherty, Adam Best
Producer: Trevor Birney, Jack Tarling
Production Co: Fine Point Films, Mother Tongues Films,
Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics
Rating: R (Pervasive Drug Content and Language|Sexual Content|Nudity|Some Violence)
Genre: Music, Drama
Language: Irish, English
Release Date (Theaters): August 2, 2024
Runtime: 1 hr 45 mins
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You can watch the trailer for Kneecap below: