I like happy endings. Granted they can be a bit cliche at times, but when they’re done right they can be fantastic. If you’re watching a film that twists the anticipated “everything is fine now!” resolution and instead ends on a darker note, even if I enjoyed it, I for one would find myself thinking; “HEY! Where the hell is my happy ending, you jerks?”. This may or may not be the mentality that gave rise to the Feel Good Film Festival, but either way, I like it.
The Feel Good Film Festival is held in the iconic Egyptian Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard, and showcases uplifting, happy-making films over three days (13th-15th August), with a closing night awards ceremony. The reason I’m writing about it is that this year, an Irish short film has been selected as part of the line up.
Henry and Sunny, written and directed by Fergal Rock (can I just say - serious contender for Best Name Ever), is a love story set in a time of economic depression (sound familiar?), where one particular social group is unfairly scorned and blamed for society’s tough times. The clowns. Henry (Paulo Braganca) is an unemployed clown, hopelessly in love with the glamourous Sunny Carmichael (Dorothy Cotter), a famous soap opera actress. The film tells their bittersweet story as Henry tries to let Sunny know how he feels, while she’s stifled by the sparkly showbizzy world of soap opera acting.
Henry and Sunny is the only Irish film to have been selected for the festival, and the team behind the film are hosting a fundraiser on Sunday 25th July in the Odessa Club. If you want to show your support for Irish film-making and help the guys make the trip over to Hollywoodland to represent the film, (nay, the COUNTRY!) then doors are at 8pm and admission is a mere €8. There will be a screening of the film, along with live music from Billy Fitzgerald of The Dead Flags, EleventyFour and Tony Leddy. In the time-honored tradition of Irish fundraisers there’ll also be a raffle. Sure where you you be going without one.
For more details about the film, visit the Henry and Sunny Blog. You’ll also find them on Facebook and Twitter.
Excellent. Really looking forward to this.
They’ve just announced that Henry and Sunny has been nominated for two awards at the festival; Best Director - Fergal Rock and Best Actress - Dorothy Cotter. Exciting!