The Song Cycle, the acclaimed music-meets-travelogue documentary from director and singer-songwriter Nick Kelly, will open at the Irish Film Institute in Dublin on Friday, 1 May before extending to cinemas nationwide.
The award-winning film "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," said director and star 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 Springsteen)?"
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 is Kelly's first documentary.
He previously directed the award-winning drama The Drummer and the Keeper and was the frontman of the much-loved Dublin band The Fat Lady Sings before embarking on a solo career.
To mark the release of The Song Cycle, Kelly will "travel with his bicycle and guitar to introduce a series of one-off and limited engagement screenings across Ireland throughout May and June".
The trek is supported by Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland's Direct Distribution Fund and >accessCinema.
Nationwide screening information will be confirmed soon.
