Republic Film Distribution has picked up UK rights to James Gardner’s festival hit Jellyfish from Bankside Films.

Jellyfish

Source: Bankside

‘Jellyfish’

The film will have a platform release in UK cinemas from February 8. 

Republic is the UK label run by Zak Brilliant, former head of distribution at the now-defunct Icon Film Distribution. Republic also recently handled the UK release of Tom Edmunds’ Dead In A Week: Or Your Money Back.

Bankside has also sealed a UK home entertainment deal for the film with Signature Films. Vertical Entertainment previously bought US rights. 

Jellyfish premiered at Tribeca in April this year, before playing in Edinburgh’s Official Competition, where it won the Michael Powell Award for stars Liv Hill and Sinéad Matthews.

Hill was also nominated as best newcomer at the recent British Independent Film Awards and received a special mention at the Alice Nella Cittá event held during the Rome International Film Festival, where Jellyfish also picked up best film.

It also picked up several prizes at the Dinard Film Festival in France and played in Tokyo and Seville.

In Jellyfish, emerging talent Hill (a 2018 Screen Star of Tomorrow), who also appeared this year in The Little Stranger, stars as a 15-year-old bullied girl from an unstable family who discovers an outlet in stand-up comedy.

The film is the debut of recent NFTS graduate James Gardner, who co-wrote the screenplay with Simon Lord and also produced alongside Nikolas Holttum.