1916 Rising movie to be made via US$100,000 crowdfunding campaign

19 Nov 2014

6 Days of the Rising is the title of a new movie by award-winning director Nick Ryan, who is seeking to raise US$100,000 via crowdfunding site Indiegogo to commemorate the 1916 Rising in Ireland.

Ryan’s last movie The Summit was critically acclaimed and won the Editing Award (World Cinema Documentary) at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival last year.

The Indiegogo campaign, which started two weeks ago, aims to raise funds towards script and visual concept development to bring the Dublin of 1916 before, during and after The Rising to life on screen.

Ryan said it was a huge and ambitious story to try and tell but he wanted to capture the human dimension of The Rising rather than just the political perspective.

Authenticity in 1916 Rising film

He said the city of Dublin will be itself a character in the film and the production will make use of the city’s remaining cobblestone streets combined with a 100-foot high blue/green screen along with composite authentic models of the surrounding buildings in various states of destruction.

“Rather than focusing on the leaders of the uprising, we will portray the events from the perspective of a man whose journey across the barricaded city brings him in contact with both sides of the conflict,” Ryan said.

“We will bring a level of authenticity to the production that like The Summit, puts you firmly on the ground during the extraordinary events of Easter 1916.”

In addition to contributing to the realisation of the feature on screen, people who subscribe to the fund will also be entitled to certain perks, including vintage stamps, personalised newspapers, medals and limited-edition copies of storyboards for the movie. 

The campaign is currently 5pc towards its goal, with 27 days to go.

John Kennedy is a journalist who served as editor of Silicon Republic for 17 years

editorial@siliconrepublic.com