The Song Cycle will have two screenings in Sligo.
After a successful festival run, The Song Cycle, Nick Kelly’s uplifting feature documentary, is to be theatrically released in selected Irish cinemas, including two screenings this weekend in Sligo with the filmmaker/musician in attendance.
The film will be shown on May 3 at the Model in Sligo and on May 6 at the Art Deco in Ballymote.
Mirroring the ethos and themes of the movie, Nick is literally bringing The Song Cycle on the road. Nick will travel with his bicycle and guitar to attend, answer questions about and perform songs from The Song Cycle at these Sligo screenings, supported by Screen Ireland’s Direct Distribution Fund and Access Cinema – a fittingly feel-good launch for Ireland’s summer festival season.
Winner of the Best Independent Film at the 56th Galway Film Fleadh and the Audience Choice Award at the IFI Documentary Festival, The Song Cycle tells the story of Kelly’s novel attempt to travel by bicycle from Ireland to perform at the 2022 Glastonbury Festival, accompanied by his great friend and fellow musician Seán Millar who tracks his progress on public transport and performs onstage with him in venues along the route each night.
“This started out as a project around environmental sustainability”, explains Kelly, “but as I watched the footage back, I started to realise that this could also be a film about sustainability in a broader sense – how do we manage to keep going and stay relevant as artists and humans as we age (especially if we’ve somehow tragically not managed to become Bruce Spingsteen) I’m really looking forward to screening the film in Sligo.”
A road movie, a musical, and an engaging, funny and moving meditation on art, mortality and friendship, The Song Cycle is Kelly’s first documentary project. His previous drama feature The Drummer and The Keeper won 18 awards on the international festival circuit, and his Live Action Short Shoe was Oscar-shortlisted at the 2011 Academy Awards. Nick first came to public attention as frontman with famed ‘90s band The Fat Lady Sings, and has subsequently been acclaimed for his work as an independent solo artist.