KNEECAP at Sundance
I had the pleasure of chatting with Kneecap and director Rich Peppiatt before the premiere of their film Kneecap, which played as part of the NEXT section at Sundance 2024. This film didn’t come into the festival with a ton of buzz, but it is certainly leaving as one of the most talked about films of the year. Kneecap has already been picked up for distribution by Sony Classic Pictures.
Adam Manery
I’m on the press line with Rich Peppiatt, the director of Kneecap. If the film is anything like the press line right now, it’s going to be a pretty wild ride. I know you kind of stumbled upon Kneecap, and you had this feeling that there was something there. There was a movie to be made. Can you walk us through how you met these guys and the story that led you here?
By the time I staggered out of their house at seven o’clock… our fate was sealed. We were en route to Sundance – Rich Peppiatt
Rich Peppiatt
Yeah, I mean… I went to one of their gigs thinking, “They’re just a band.” I went to the gig and thought, you know what… they’re not just a band. There’s something about them that just feels different. Special. It felt so authentic. I spent many months trying to convince them to have a pint with me, and eventually, they gave it. That one pint ended up being about 12, and there may have been some other things that occurred that evening. By the time I staggered out of their house at seven o’clock the next morning, our fate was sealed. We were en route to Sundance. It took us three years to get here, but we were going to do it. And here we are. We’re at Sundance.
AM
(To Kneecap) Guys, what was your experience with Rich? Was it like he described?
Móglaí Bap
We have a lot of English people come chasing us a lot of the time, and for some reason or another we don’t trust English people… But for some reason, he gained our trust because he’s honestly a very nice guy, and he’s also a great director. So after a lot of Guinness and a lot of fun, we ended up writing the script together.
Mo Charra
Yeah, obviously as you said, it was the first night we met each other with a few points and then that turned into about three years of writing. COVID was two of those years, so that doesn’t really count, right? You know what I mean? The real issue was that the first couple of pages were incredible, but then we started to get a bit more drunk, so the end of the film was suffering for quite some time, but we got there.
DJ Próvaí
Smashed the first 40 pages.
Mo Charra
In record time.
AM
So, I used to be a teacher…
DJ Próvaí
Oh, mate… You’ve really gone off the rails.
The allegations were “the masked member appears on stage with the words ‘Brits’ and ‘Out’ written on either buttocks. And well… that was true” – DJ Próvaí
AM
Big time, right? Anyway, JJ (DJ Próvaí) – you were a teacher at the start of this group. Talk to us about what that was like and how everything unfolded.
DJ Próvaí
I was passionate about teaching the Irish language before all this happened. That’s really why I was teaching in school, but then it really wasn’t working anymore. People started coming to our gigs – I was teaching 17, 18 year olds and they would be sneaking into these gigs. I would hear them yelling “SIR”, and then I’d be back in school and they would be walking down the halls chanting the lyrics to the songs. And I was literally getting pulled in off the f—-ing street by the powers that be in the school. They would be like, “is this you”? I had to deny everything. They went through all of the videos and the footage from our shows and put together a case to bring me in front of the Board of Governors. Some of the allegations were “the masked member appears on stage with the words ‘Brits’ and ‘Out’ written on either buttocks. And well… that was true. Another one was “masked member appears on stage, snorting a perceived white substance across the stage” and other things like that. So safe to say my days were numbered as a teacher.
AM
(To Rich) So clearly, these three guys are all Irish speakers. You didn’t grow up speaking Irish, but have you learned a lot as a result of working with Kneecap? Are you an Irish speaker now?
Rich Peppiatt
I wouldn’t go as far as to say I am a true Irish speaker. I’ve learned my first qualification in Irish, though! Look… out of respect to the band, out of respect to the language, you can’t go making a film in the Irish language and not put the effort in to go and learn it, right? It was important to me to be able to direct it properly, to have some sense of what they’re saying. And if you look back at my history, I failed my GCSE qualification in French at school, so language has always haunted me as a thing that I’m just not good at. So, it was a real challenge. A language like Irish is very hard, but I’m quite proud of myself. I think I did alright in the end.
AM
You did it! When the audience leaves the theatre tonight, what do you want them to be thinking?
Rich Peppiatt
I want them to realize that the Irish language is a special thing. That Kneecap is a special band. And this is a special film.
AM
What about you guys? What are you hoping is going through the audience’s minds?
Mo Chara
Trauma.
Móglaí Bap
I hope they go straight to our website www.kneecap.ie and buy all our merchandise so that we can spend all that money on ourselves.
Mo Chara
Yeah, so we can spend it right after this. Spend all your money so we can go skiing for free in the next few days here.
DJ Próvaí
Hedonistic behaviour is strongly encouraged.
Mo Chara
But seriously, whatever people take from it. You can take whatever the f–k you want from it.
Móglaí Bap
It’s a fun movie. It’s a lot of comedy. It’s a lot of drama. And hopefully its the first of many in the Irish language at Sundance. Hopefully after this they’ll be plenty more.
Safe to say, Kneecap is one of a kind. And don’t worry… the boys got their wish – they did go skiing… (thanks for buying the merch)
Full written review: HERE
More Sundance coverage: HERE
Full video review:
