IRISH language rappers Kneecap are in the US this week for the premiere of their film 'Kneecap' at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah.
Ahead of their departure during an interview in The Sunflower bar in the city, the trio from West Belfast spoke about the movie, their new album, the Irish language and their solidarity with the people of Palestine.
The film, which is set to be the first ever Irish language film at Sundance, follows the band who play themselves, alongside some big screen names such as Michael Fassbender and Simone Kirby. The movie premieres today, Thursday.
👀A wee sneak peek of Kneecap the movie. 👇
🎥 The first ever Irish language movie at @sundanceorg - this snippet in the language of the oppressor.
"The Troubles?!" 💥 pic.twitter.com/QoGdFdMqC9— KNEECAP (@KNEECAPCEOL) December 6, 2023
The film focuses on the formation of the group, set amidst mass demonstrations in Belfast demanding Irish language rights. The group soon find themselves at the forefront of the new Irish language revolution but the lads admit that it was only after they left school that they began to appreciate the language and how important it is.
Móglaí Bap said: “We’ve become really proud of the language, myself and Mo Chara went to Coláiste Feirste but when we were younger, about 13 or 14 we didn’t want to speak it because the authority in school said to speak Irish and when you’re that age you just want do the opposite of what authority tells you.”
Mo Chara continued: “It wasn’t until we left school and we were about 18 that we realised speaking Irish was really f***in’ cool."
The trio spoke about the making of the film and working with some A-List names such as Michael Fassbender who stars in the film as Móglaí Bap’s Da. The film was directed by Rich Peppiatt. “He’s English!” they joke, “but don’t worry, he can’t help it, we don’t hold that against him!”
Móglaí Bap added: “It was great working with Rich because he was really interested in Belfast and the North’s culture and he pretty much let us run with what we wanted to include in the film and we came together to create it.
DJ Próvaí said: “We’re co-writers and co-producers on the film as well so we all worked together to make it happen.”
On working with Michael Fassbender Móglaí Bap said: “He’s my Da in the film, it was a whole new level of acting. He grew up in Killarney and he played Bobby Sands in Hunger. He said he looked at the film feeling like what if Bobby Sands and the Hunger Strikers didn’t die – what would their life be like now?"
“For him it’s a continuation of that story and he’s got the Belfast accent down to a T and he speaks in Belfast Irish as well.” DJ Próvaí added: “He took a load of Zoom calls with us to practice his speaking Irish and to get the accent right.”
Mo Chara said: “The film’s just based on our reality, so it’s not all in Irish. If it’s us three sitting together it’s all in Irish but we speak English as well to others throughout, it’s a mix of both just like in our everyday lives.”
When asked if they will be holding a premiere of the film in Belfast the group said they would, hopefully later in the summer but as the film is part of Sundance they don't currently know when it will be released to audiences.
Móglaí Bap said: "We want to have the premiere in the Cultúrlann after the summer. It has to first go on the film circuit but we’ll definitely be having a West Belfast premiere of it even if it does get bought up we will personally put on a screening ourselves, for free and everybody!
“Sundance dictate what happens with the film so we have to see after the festival as to what happens with it and whether it’ll end up on any streaming platforms."
KNEECAP: The rap trio said Unionist politicians attempt to create division in society by stigmatising the Irish language
The trio are no strangers to courting 'controversy' – usually generated by outrage from Unionist politicians, but the three state that they reject any notions of sectarian division which the media attempt to foster onto them.
Speaking about some of the responses they got to the unveiling of their infamous 'England Get Out of Ireland' mural, the lads said they believed that Unionist politicians try to use the Irish language as a way to divide people, when historically that was not the case.
Mo Chara said: “We don’t get enough flak to be honest, but Unionist politicians forget that Unionist and Protestant people as well spoke and still speak Irish."
Móglaí Bap said: “They want to use us as scapegoats as a way to create a further divide between Protestants and Catholics here. Protestants and Unionists have been on this island so long that the Irish language is just as much part of their culture as it is ours. Even Ulster-Scots itself, it’s a mix of Scots and Irish and all these things are intertwined.
“They’re outraged because they want to put out this perception that the language is evil or part of this 'Republican agenda' that will ensnare all the Protestants and turn them into Roman Catholics, they make it out like the IRA invented Irish!
“The Irish language doesn’t belong to any one culture here and that’s what we want to drive home. We all know the DUP don’t align with what working class Protestants want or believe in and you see that all the time with the likes of LGBTQ+ rights and everything else. They’re not representing the people in working class loyalist areas and they want to use the Irish language – to make it into this massive political game."
CONTROVERSY: A Kneecap mural launch in Belfast
DJ Próvaí said: “They create this competition with the Irish language and everything else and say what about money for the health service but all of these things are possible, it’s not one or the other – you can do all these things.”
Mo Chara added: “If they cared about the health service so much and money was the issue they’d raise taxes for rich people. Regardless of what they think, on the ground you have people like Linda Ervine on the Newtownards Road who started a (Irish language) creche and is now starting a primary school.”
CONCERT: Kneecap take the applause at Féile
Speaking about the current Israeli war on Gaza, the group are noted for having longstanding solidarity with Palestine and that has always been evident at their gigs and in their music.
“It was great to see South Africa take Israel to the ICJ but I don’t think we deserve any praise for supporting Palestine," said Mo Chara. "It’s pretty obvious, it’s a shame that people aren’t supporting them. We had a 30 year war here and not even a tenth died of those who have been killed in Palestine, it’s tragic and they can’t go anywhere, they’re trapped in there.
"I don’t think people deserve praise for coming out for Palestine because it’s just the right thing to do but I do think that people who haven’t come out for them need to be shamed."
Móglaí Bap added: “It’s good to see it’s South Africa taking them to court because in South Africa the last people who were still backing up South African apartheid were the US, the Brits and the Israelis. Apartheid fell in South Africa so hopefully now it will fall in Israel. We try to do our small bit, but it’s never enough.”
Today centuries of Irish oppression under British rule was channeled on behalf of Palestinians through Blinne.
— KNEECAP (@KNEECAPCEOL) January 11, 2024
She was inspired to become a lawyer after hearing about 12 year old Majella O’Hare from Armagh, murdered after being shot in the back by a British soldier in 1976. pic.twitter.com/nAe4t9CJFH
Also coming up for the group is their American tour which will take place in March and April, as well as their long-awaited album which is due to come out in June.
Móglaí Bap said: “We have the album coming up which is coming out with Heavenly Records who signed us last year. We’ve a couple of singles coming out, ‘Better Way to Live’ was the first one. There’s two more singles coming out in February and March."
Kneecap's film 'Kneecap' will premier at the Sundance Film Festival on 18 January.
