Standby, a Luxembourg-Ireland co-production involving Juliette films and Paul Thiltges Distribution, will go on general release in the Grand Duchy from 7 October; on Thursday evening it had its Premier at Utopolis-Kirchberg.
Planned for release within the British & Irish Film Season 2015 following an initial release at Ireland's Cork Film Festival, Standby tells the story of Alan (Brian Gleeson) who works in customer service at Dublin Airport. His former girlfriend Alice (Jessica Paré) is on standby at the airport and looks for a place to stay until she can fly home to the US. They start talking and spend the evening together, both wondering if the sparks will reignite...
A lovely warm, smooth and slick romantic comedy that, while set in Dublin, could in reality be anywhere as the directors, Rob and Ronan Burke, resisted the temptation to incorporate stereotypes at any stage. With a catchy soundtrack and crisp editing, the simple and blindingly obvious storyline glides along at a constant pace troughout the entire 90 minutes. A feel-good film that will bring smiles to the faces of audiences rather than side-splitting laughter.
During the post-screening Q&A, director Ronan Burke (who had travelled over for the Premier) revealed the film took 5 weeks to shoot, with most of the outdoor scenes filmed in Ireland and most indoor scenes shot in Luxembourg, including at the Melusina, the DoubleTree by Hilton, the former Arbed warehouses in Beggen / Dommeldange and more. Producer David Grumbach explained that the origins of the film could be traced back to discussions at the Galway Film Fleadh in Ireland a few years ago and, with the support of Film Fund Luxembourg, got off the ground with a total budget of €1.6m.
Photo (above, L-R): David Grumbach, co-producer, Juliette Films; Ronan Burke, co-director; Geoff Thompson, BIFS Organiser
