Ahead of the Sundance Film Festival, a feature film out of Ireland following the band Kneecap is set to screen as part of the festival’s NEXT lineup. The film, aptly titled Kneecap, will be the first Irish language film to make its debut at the festival in Sundance history. 

Based out of Belfast, Kneecap, known for their discography of rap music, evokes strong emotions out of listeners through their lyrics, gaining them many naysayers and a group of devoted fans. 

Kneecap will be directed by Rich Peppiatt and star Michael Fassbender in the leading role. Also included in the cast are Simone Kirby, Emer Casey, and the three band members, Mo Chara, Móglaí Bap, and DJ Próvaí. 

After seeing the group perform in 2019, director Peppiatt, impressed by the band, had the idea of the film from then on. Once he took the idea to the group, they took their time to sign on, with the trio and director working very closely on the film for four years. As BBC reports, the production started with simple talks about the story. The group wanted the project to be in Irish completely, with the director becoming fluent in the language. 

“You can tell, if someone writes a script and they’re not from Belfast, the terminology they use just doesn’t land right; if you’re watching it on screen it just comes across as kind of cringey,” Próvaí said, explaining that the members of Kneecap wanted to be fully hands-on to give the film a fully authentic Belfast feel. 

Kneecap will screen on Thursday, the opening night of Sundance.