Kneecap movie: Irish language film wins Sundance audience award

Kneecap members visited the Sundance Film Festival with director Rich Peppiatt (centre)

Irish-language film Kneecap featuring a Belfast rap group has been awarded a prize at the Sundance Film Festival.

The film depicts a semi-fictionalised account of how the west Belfast rap trio, Kneecap, was formed.

It has snapped up an Audience Award: NEXT, beating five films including one starring Friends' David Schwimmer.

Academy Award nominee Michael Fassbender stars in the Kneecap film alongside group members Móglaí Bap, Mo Chara and DJ Próvaí.

The premiere last week at the festival in Utah marked the first time an Irish-language film had screened at Sundance.

Kneecap is also the first non-US film to ever be selected for the NEXT section of the festival.

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Director Rich Peppiatt accepted the award on behalf of the band who returned to Belfast recently after a week of film promotion in the United States.

He told RTÉ News: "Ever since we arrived at Sundance, the sun has kept shining on this film."

Producer Trevor Birney said winning was "surreal".

"We had ambition for the film from the outset, but never allowed ourselves to dream that it would screen at the world's greatest film festival," he said.

"To win a film at Sundance is simply surreal.

"Irish films and our talent are having a moment and Belfast is playing its part."

The film has recently been acquired by Sony Pictures Classics and is now set for release in North America and other major, global markets. It is expected to be screened in the UK and Ireland later this year.

Dublin-based creative agency The Tenth Man teamed up with Kneecap to design their arrival vehicle for the film's premiere at Sundance Film Festival in Utah

The film met rave reviews upon its premiere with The Hollywood Reporter describing it as "gleefully irreverent".

Kneecap director Rich Peppiatt previously told BBC News NI: "It's definitely more controversial than the usual movies that come out of Northern Ireland."

The three-piece have faced disapproval for their politically-charged lyrics and ease with controversy - they've previously admitted they like "to get people riled up".