Subotica

About Subotica | Key Players | In Development

The Daisy Chain (2007)

Cast and Crew

Cast Biographies

Samantha Morton

Samantha Morton has established herself as one of the finest actors of her generation, winning Oscar nominations for her turns in Woody Allen's Sweet and Low Down (1999) and Jim Sheridan's In America (2002). The Nottingham born actress began her career in TV, including acclaimed performances in the title roles in Emma (1996) and Jane Eyre (1997).

Her breakthrough film role in Allen's Sweet and Lowdown, playing Hattie, the mute lover of Sean Penn's caddish jazz guitaist led to a number of courageous indie roles in films such as Jesus' Son and Morvern Caller. She was then cast by Steven Spielberg opposite Tom Cruise in the Hollywood blockbuster Minority Report.

Her most recent roles have included Mary Stuart in Elizabeth: The Golden Age, Debbie, the wife of tragic Joy Division lead singer Ian Curtis in Anton Corbijn's Control and she is currently filming The Messenger with Woody Harrelson and Jena Malone.

Steven Mackintosh

Steven Mackintosh first appeared on the London stage at age 12. He went on to make his film debut in the Joe Orton biopic Prick up Your Ears (1987) as Simon Ward. Since then he has appeared in many film and television roles including The Jacket, The Mother, England Expects and Care, for which he won the BAFTA Cymru Best Actor award in 2000 and the Royal Television Society Program Award Best Actor award in 2001. His most recent film and TV roles have included the male lead in the BBC drama The Amazing Mrs. Prichard and an upcoming roles in the newest installment of the Underworld Franchise and The Escapist.

Eva Birthistle

Irish actress Eva Birthistle trained at the Gaiety School of Acting and has subsequently appeared in a host of Irish and British TV, film and theatre productions. Recent credits include Peter Greenway's Rembrandt's J'accuse and Nightwatching and the BBC television production The State Within. Eva was the joint winner, with Kate Winslet, for British Actress of the Year Award at the London Film Critics Awards, 2005 and has won two Irish Film and Television awards for Best Actress for Ae Fond Kiss (2004) and Middletown (2007).

David Bradley

David Bradley began his acting career in 1968 and has since appeared in numerous plays, many for the RSC, television productions and films. He has recently won legions of new fans for his portrayal of the evil Hogwarts caretaker Argus Filch in the Harry Potter films. He won the 1990 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for King Lear at the National Theatre and won the Clarence Derwent Award for Best Supporting Actor for the role of Polonius in Hamlet and Shallow in Henry IV PT II at the RSC.

Mhairi Anderson

Ten year old Mhari Anderson comes from Airdrie in North Lanarkshire, Scotland and The Daisy Chain is her debut feature film. The exceptionally gifted young actress enjoyed working on The Daisy Chain so much, she cried when filming was completed. She and director Aisling Walsh have struck up a firm friendship and are constantly in touch. Mhairi feels she learnt a huge amount from the other actors and by the end of the shoot she felt just like one of them. At times she felt sorry for her character Daisy, but when Daisy was bad, she didn't feel sorry for her at all.

Since The Daisy Chain, Mhairi has worked on the powerful and emotional Fiona's Story (BBC), playing Gina McKee's daughter for award winning director Adrian Shergold, and The Girl in the Branches (Sorbier Films/BBC) co-starring with fellow Scot, BIFA Best Actress winner Kate Dickie (Red Road).

Key Personnel Biographies

Aisling Walsh, Director

Irish director Aisling Walsh has a list of well-known film and television credits. Song for a Raggy Boy starring Aidan Quinn was written and directed by Aisling in 2003 and garnered multiple awards at international film festivals, including Best Film at the Copenhagen Film Festival, Amiens Film Festival, Ljubljana Film Festival and the Irish Film and Television Awards. She directed Fingersmith starring Elaine Cassidy and Imelda Staunton for the BBC in 2005 for which she received a BAFTA nomination. Sinners, made in 2002, tells the fictional story set against the real background of the Magdalen Laundries in Ireland in 1960s. Made for BBC Northern Ireland and Parallel Films it won five awards at the Shanghai TV Festival including Best Director for Aisling.

Her other film and television credits include, Beyond Justice, A Piece of My Heart, Mother Of Pearl and the acclaimed Joyriders. Also for television, Trial and Retribution 2 & 5, La Plante's The Governor, Roughnecks, the BAFTA award winning Doctor Finlay, The Bill and Forgive and Forget.

Aisling's short film at the National Film School, Hostage, won Gold Plaque Award at Chicago Film Festival and the Special Jury Prize at Tours Film Festival.

Her most recent productions included Damage, a television drama for Subotica Entertainment and RTE starring Olivia Williams, Natalie Press and David O'Hara, which was broadcast in Summer 2007.

Tristan Orpen Lynch, Producer

Tristan Orpen Lynch has been involved in the Irish film and music industry since 1989.

He founded his first production company, Subotica Films, to produce the feature film Night Train, starring John Hurt and Brenda Blethyn. Night Train was completed in early 1999 and screened to excellent reviews in many film festivals including Toronto, Cairo, Palm Springs, Brussels and Moscow. John Hurt also won the best actor award at the Verona film festival for his performance.

In 1999 Tristan formed Subotica Entertainment with his partner Dominic Wright. In 2000 the company produced David Caffrey's On The Nose, a comedy starring Robbie Coltrane, Dan Aykroyd and Brenda Blethyn. It also produced the eight part period drama Random Passage directed by John N Smith and starring Colm Meaney. Subotica's next feature was Song For A Raggy Boy starring Aidan Quinn and Iain Glen, which received an extended standing ovation at its world premiere in Sundance 2003, where it opened the World Cinema Section. It has been a major festival hit, winning 9 awards internationally, including Best Film at the Copenhagen Film Festival. In 2004 the company completed a major documentary to mark the centenary of Ireland's national theatre, The Abbey Theatre: The First Hundred Years. Subotica were then commissioned by RTE to produce a 4 hour TV drama, Proof, about human trafficking and high-level corruption in Irish society, which screened on RTE in January 2004 with exceptional audience ratings. It was sold to BBC in the UK and ABC in Australia. RTE recommissioned a second series of Proof from Subotica, which aired in April 2005.

Subotica produced Small Engine Repair (PKA In Like Flynn), a comedy drama set in the world of country music starring Iain Glen, Steven Mackintosh, Stuart Graham and Tom Murphy. The film won a number of awards internationally, including best feature at the Galway Film Fleadh and the Nashville Film Festival, before being released theatrically to excellent reviews in 2007. They also produced Damage that year, a 2-part drama for RTE, directed by Aisling Walsh and starring Olivia Williams and Natalie Press. Subotica currently have two other films in post production; an Irish Spanish co-production, The Hanged Man and an Irish Canadian co-production, Love and Savagery. Both are due for release in 2009.

Tristan was nominated the Irish 'Producer on the Move' at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival by European Film Promotions. He has lead International Irish Film Industry trade missions in conjunction with Enterprise Ireland and is a member of the Film Makers Ireland film subcommittee. Tristan is also a board member of the Irish Film Board.

Dominic Wright, Producer

Dominic Wright has worked in film and television as a producer and an actor since graduating in English from Oxford University in 1987.

In 1997-8 while working on the series A Week in Politics for Channel 4 Television he developed the Spanish/Irish co-production Innisfree directed by José Luis Guerín and selected as Spain's Best Film by a Debuting Director for the Berlin Film Festival in 1989. In 1991 he was UK Production Manager on Pilar Miro's feature Beltenebros starring Terence Stamp and Patsy Kensit, which won awards at Berlin and San Sebastian Film Festivals.

From 1992-4 he worked with film financiers Film Trustees in London on films such as The Crying Game; The Sheltering Sky and Naked Lunch. He also worked on another Pilar Miro feature The Bird Of Happiness, selected for Director's Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival in 1993.

Co-producing the film Spaghetti Slow in Dublin in 1995 he moved to Ireland and began working with Subotica Films, producing John Lynch's Night Train in 1998 starring John Hurt and Brenda Blethyn. In 1999 he formed Subotica Entertainment with partner Tristan Orpen Lynch. From 1999-2002 they produced David Caffrey's On The Nose, starring Robbie Coltrane, Dan Aykroyd and Brenda Blethyn, the 8-part period drama Random Passage starring Colm Meaney for RTE and CBC and a documentary series on The Abbey Theatre for the centenary of Ireland's national theatre in 2004.

In 2002 they produced Aisling Walsh's film Song for a Raggy Boy, starring Aidan Quinn, Iain Glen and Marc Warren which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in Jan 2003. It won the Golden Swan Best Film Award at the Copenhagen Film Festival in August 2003 and has since won numerous awards internationally. This was followed in 2004-5 by two four-hour series of the highly successful TV drama Proof, about human trafficking, pharmaceuticals and high-level corruption in Irish society, which has sold to broadcasters worldwide.

2005-6 they produced Niall Heery's Small Engine Repair starring Iain Glen and Stephen Mackintosh. The film won Best First Feature at the Galway Film Festival and is being sold internationally by Moviehouse Entertainment. In 2007 Subotica completed Damage, a 2 part drama for RTE directed by Aisling Walsh and starring Olivia Williams and Natalie Press which was broadcast in Summer 2007.

Dominic is on the executive committee of Screen Producers Ireland and also the Film and Broadcasting sub-committee.