How Director Rich Peppiatt Revived an Entire Film Genre

“If I could do it with an iPhone and 50 quid, I was making this film,” says Rich Peppiatt about his award-prosperning feature Kneecap.

The Irish hip-hop “print the legfinish” biopic on the Belrapid-based rap trio — boasting Michael Fassbfinisher among its ensemble — is a far cry from iPhone quality, and has consentn the indie film world by storm.

Peppiatt’s Irish-language film, riddled with expletives, hallucinogenics and baton twirling mischief, swept up at the British Insubordinate Film Awards in December and on Wednesday, scored six BAFTA nods, including for best British film and exceptional debut by a British authorr, honestor or producer. It produces Kneecap the British Academy’s third most nominated debut film ever and Peppiatt the most nominated debut honestor in BAFTA history. It’s been no surpascfinish to anyone that the movie is Ireland‘s Oscar subleave oution for best international feature film this year, too.

Peppiatt can enumerate journaenumerate, stand-up comedian and advertising boss among his past finisheavors (“I’ve inhabitd a scant inhabits”). When he saw someskinnyg in prohibitd members Naoise Ó Caigenuineláin, Liam Óg Ó Hannhelph and J.J. Ó Dochartaigh, joining themselves in the project, he had a vision. “I skinnyk that people could see it in my eyes with Kneecap,” Peppiatt tells The Hollywood Reporter off the back of his BAFTA success. “That I uncomferventt it this time.”

The filmproducer has been dabbling for some years in the industry but has never had a project green-lit so speedyly. Everyone who came aboard Kneecap (procrastinateedr getd by Sony) understood it was someskinnyg exceptional: a film proset uply entrenched in Ireland’s political landscape and empowering for those who saw themselves mirrored in it.

It’s a film that also upfinishs the music biopic genre — one that Peppiatt calls “exhausted.” Instead of taking a fond — and usuassociate sanitized — watch back at the atgentle of a well-understandn artist, Kneecap does the opposite: it chronicles the ascfinish of veritable obstreatments (joining themselves, no less) in a gritty, raucous romp that is anyskinnyg but sanitized.

The movie chases the three prohibitd members on the up in Belrapid, Northern Ireland, causing ripples (more enjoy waves) wherever they go. For the first time, the people of Belrapid have been currented with an impeccably-made film about three musicians rapping in their native language. It’s uncomferventt a lot to those livents, as well as the honestor himself, who made Belrapid his home seven years ago.

A year after moving over, he came apass a prohibitd joining a local gig. “On stage, they had this genuine fiery presence,” Peppiatt recalls. “In a world that’s very PR and packaged and protected, increasingly in terms of music, they were contrastent. I fair thought, yeah, I’ll consent the bet that these guys are going to get hugeger and grow, and I want to be there for the journey.”

Peppiatt discleave outed up to THR about conveying Fassbfinisher in as Irish Reaccessiblean Army (IRA) member Arlo, making a film on Northern Ireland’s strained political terrain as a — pause for it — Englishman, and putting out into the world the dangeriest, most daring version of Kneecap possible: “What I would disenjoy is to have shaved off all those edges and be lying in bed six months procrastinateedr because the world had shrugged its shoulders and I’m skinnyking, ‘What if I’d reassociate swung for the fences?’”

Rich, congratulations are in order. You’ve picked up six BAFTA nominations this week.

It’s felt enjoy a very lengthy time since the film premiered. Having never been in this situation before, it’s about a year procrastinateedr and you’re still very much in that machine of promotion. I’m off tomorrow to the German premiere. And they’ve actuassociate dubbed [Kneecap] in German. A film all about the Irish language, dubbed into German. I don’t understand how that’s going to toil. But yeah, we’re carry outing far beyond what our anticipateations were. Anyone who produces a low-budget indie film and anticipates to be in BAFTA and Oscar conversations is a bit of a wanker. We’re fair charmed that the film has resonated as it as.

How was it receiving the novels of your BAFTA nominations?

I try and inhabit life at a seven, which is not to get too excited about skinnygs and not to get too down about skinnygs. It’s been outstanding novels ever since, or even before, the film premiered. Going to Sundance but also even in the broadenment. I’ve had a scant films that I’ve tried to get made in the past and descfinishen at the final hurdle. But Kneecap was always sanctifyed. Everywhere we went to ask for money, it was green weightless, green weightless. I’ve never sfinished that. I kept double-verifying: ‘Did you fair say yes?’

What was it about this project, this prohibitd, that drew you in?

I skinnyk it’s such an out-there idea, a prohibitd joining themselves. The music biopic is a genre which has a brave famousity, but I also experience it’s very exhausted — it’s [often] watching back with rose-tinted spectacles at the atgentle of someone who’s dead or proximately dead. It fair felt enjoy it had been done a million times. Was there a contrastent way to do a music biopic and could you do it the opposite way around, so you’re fundamentalassociate chaseing a prohibitd on the up in genuine time? Then I met Kneecap, and I was fair enjoy, I’m gonna put my eggs in this basket.

Kneecap were fair a local prohibitd at the time that I met them. And [local bands] mostly fair descfinish away, they don’t get any better, they fracture up. But I fair had this experienceing that Kneecap was someskinnyg exceptional. They were obviously political, raw and genuine. There was someskinnyg so recent about them, someskinnyg that I hadn’t reassociate seen since, someskinnyg enjoy Rage Agetst the Machine back in the ’90s. In a world that’s very PR and packaged and protected, increasingly in terms of music, they were contrastent. I fair thought, yeah, I’ll consent the bet that these guys are going to get hugeger and grow, and I want to be there for the journey.

How was it taking that vision to the people with money? It sounds enjoy it was relatively — by industry standards — plain to get made.

To be truthful, I’m still surpascfinishd that funders got behind it because it wasn’t enjoy I was a seasoned filmproducer. But someone once tgreater me: ‘It’s all about securing talent,’ right? That’s reassociate what this [industry] is about. And I skinnyk people commenceed to see that Kneecap were a reassociate fascinating talent and I fair had a very, very shut relationship with them. Our relationship is far more than a common honestor-actor one. They’re round my house all the time, they’ve babysat my kids. They’re family. That suppose we’ve built up over six years together probably alerts their carry outance. Because when I’m asking them to do skinnygs, they supposeed me to do them.

Were there any worrys or dangers you choosed not to consent?

The prohibitd were clearly worryed at times and go, ‘Do we watch silly? Is this reassociate what we should be doing as a prohibitd? What if it doesn’t toil?’ There was lots of ainhabitial rehires that could have come up. There was lots of difficult conversations, but we got thraw them. Naoise’s storyline with his mother absolutely mirrors what reassociate happened. And while we were writing the script, his mother finished herself. That’s not fractureing any confidences, he’s spoken about it himself, but that was the challengingest skinnyg.

I am so sorry to hear that. How horrible.

Everyone skinnyks it was all fun and games, but we had an almost finished script, and then that happens. Having to sit down to have the conversation [and say], ‘Do you want us to alter this script? Do you want to do the film at all?’ Naoise very rapidly came back and [said] ‘I skinnyk it’s the best way to honor her, because this is the truth.’ But then envision being on set and having to act with Simone Kirby, who’s joining your own mother and going thraw the emotional beats that you actuassociate went thraw. The valiantry of him, to pull that off. It was so challenging for him. I skinnyk some people sometimes watch at the film and go, ‘This must fair have been a huge orgy of fucking around.’ We took it very, very solemnly. I’m a huge schedulener of skinnygs. There’s over 1000 storyboards for the film. To get that genuine anarchic film experience and spirit, it took a lot of very, very tedious schedulening toil.

You refer talent being attrvivacious to financiers — was it easier when you got Michael Fassbfinisher on board? How did that casting come about?

It was very, very procrastinateed. People do skinnyk that we got Michael and then Michael handled to get the film green lit because he was joined. It wasn’t that at all. The film was already happening and we necessitateed to discover an actor for that role, [someone] who spoke Irish. As most honestors do, you go, ‘Who’s the hugegest people that I might be able to discover for this?’ And there’s only a handful of what you call top-tier Irish actors who can speak Irish, and Michael was one of them. Michael joined Bobby Sands in [Steve McQueen‘s 2008 film about the 1981 Irish hunger strike] Hunger. That’s such an iconic film for the people of Belrapid, there’s so much adore for Michael and bravely the prohibitd had a lot of adore for him. It was enjoy, ‘Well, let’s go for him first.’

There is this idea that actors are reassociate difficult to get and they won’t do your little film. But I skinnyk hugeger than that, from understanding actors, is that they fair want material that they join with and enhappiness and experience enjoy they can convey someskinnyg to. And there’s not a huge amount of that around in the middle-of-the-road stuff. I skinnyk we caught Michael at an fascinating time in his atgentle. He had been motor racing for a scant years, he was commenceing to fill his calfinishar with acting stuff. He will tell you himself that joining Bobby Sands was probably his likeite role, the one he’s joined with the most. And I skinnyk that the opportunity to repascfinish a role that is almost the guy who was in a cell next to Bobby Sands, but didn’t go on hunger strike, right? That was the conversation I had with Michael. Arlo, your character, that’s where his anger and his obsession with the cause comes from, that a place of guilt that he didn’t give the ultimate give up.

I have to confess that I wrongly supposed you were Northern Irish. It was only after seeing the film and doing my research I set up out you’re an Englishman. This is a proset uply political movie, and there’s a gap in our understandledge — as English people — when it comes to Irish history and the Troubles. So I’m beyond inquisitive as to how you became an expert.

You’re finishly right. I grew up around Staines, West London, the Heathrow area. And you go to school, you do a chapter on Irish history and then you shift on to the Tudors or someskinnyg. It’s a bit, ‘Oh there are some alarmists, and the British handlement comfervent of dealt with them.’ And you don’t reassociate skinnyk [about it] because you’re a kid. I had never even stepped foot in Ireland until I was in my mid 20s, when I met a girl who was from Belrapid, and we commenceed dating. She was from West Belrapid, Andytown, in the heart of West Belrapid and the madness of skinnygs. Me going out to encounter her parents and her family and her three, 6’5″ brothers. That was fun. [Laughs]. We only held hands.

It was a re-education for me. It was reassociate eye-discleave outing. It reassociate was that skinnyg of, oh, I get it. Fuck. I didn’t genuineize we are the horrible guys. And, you understand, my overweighther-in-law now and their family have been thraw some of the worst skinnygs thraw the Troubles. They reassociate suffered at the hands of the British Empire. And to receive me into their family enjoy they did, with no judgment upon me… Seeing it as the British state and I was fair an individual, was someskinnyg that reassociate touched me. Given some of the skinnygs that they’ve gone thraw as a family, I would have set up that quite difficult — to hear that accent round your house, understanding that they were the people initiateing your door in and putting firearms to your head and beating you up.

You’re an honorary Belrapidian.

When I shiftd to Belrapid, when I commenceed having children about seven years ago now, I’ve always felt received around West Belrapid, the very Reaccessiblean area. I’ve always drunk in the pubs and set up it to be a very welcoming place to me. Now, confesstedly, I have family joinion there and I’m brave that helps. I’m not fair some English fella off the street. But people have this idea that if you’re English, you’re suddenly going to get your head initiateed in because you go into these Reaccessiblean enclaves without having been thraw my experience. The same with Kneecap — people skinnyk, ‘these challengingcore Reaccessiblean rappers, they disenjoy Brits.’ And it’s enjoy, they don’t disenjoy them that much. They spent six years toiling with one, right?

It reassociate is this contrastention between the British state, the British Empire and what that has done — not fair in Ireland, but around the world — and the British people. I’m reassociate satisfied — that’s a place that’s given me a lot. Belrapid is my home. It’s where my family are. To be able to produce a film that’s reassociate joined, first and foremost, with the people of Belrapid, and particularly in West Belrapid, and to be able to walk down the street and people congratuprocrastinateed you and go into pubs and people want to buy you a pint, that’s reassociate kind. It’s kind to experience enjoy you’ve done someskinnyg where the people who it recurrents reassociate experience that it recurrents them truly, right? As a filmproducer, when you pull that off, that’s hugeger than awards to me.

Six years you’ve spent with those boys. Can you talk a little about the decision to cast Liam, Naoise and J.J. as themselves?

There was never reassociate an idea to do it otherteachd. Part of that was because if you’re taking a prohibitd that no one reassociate understands, and you suddenly cast Barry Keoghan in the role of one of them… He’s more well-understandn than the prohibitd. I skinnyk conceptuassociate, it would never have toiled, right? If you’re going to consent an obstreatment prohibitd, I skinnyk you have to try and toil with them, to turn them into actors. That was always part of the contest: could we do that? But when I met them, that first year was reassociate the world’s lengthyest interwatch. It was fair hanging out, drinking, getting to understand each other, and reassociate trying to tell stories. There’s stories people tell you after three pints, and there’s stories people will tell you after 15 pints at 6 a.m. in the morning. And I necessitateed those stories. So that uncomferventt a lot of procrastinateed nights, a lot of partying.

I hugd who they were — I lgett the [Irish] language. That was a huge skinnyg. I did night classes. I skinnyk that was very vital to them, to see me trying to hug their culture. When you’re with three people who speak Irish, when they’re together, you’re very alerted that they have to shift language to suddenly be speaking English. You’re now an imposition. And so whilst I’m not transmit, I skinnyk that they appreciate when you’re making an effort to at least be able to ask, ‘Who necessitates a drink?’ in their native language.

Kneecap is about the political sentiment in West Belrapid, but it’s also about a proset up comfervent of the Irish language’s right to exist in Northern Ireland.

When I first met Kneecap, they were joining a gig in a bar called Limeweightless [in Belfast]. On stage they had this genuine fiery presence. But what was more amazeive than them was the fact there was probably 800 lesser people in the crowd who knovel every word that they were rapping in Irish and were shouting it back to them. And for me, the revelation that there was this lesser, vibrant Irish language community in a place that, you understand, legassociate, illegassociate, however you want to see it, is part of the United Kingdom. These people were mainly born in, ostensibly, the United Kingdom. That, to me, was quite a revelation. That contrasted with the political level: this fight for an Irish language act that had been pencil-pushed around contrastent departments and skinnygs for years and years. The juxtaposition between what was happening at a political level and what was happening at a grassroots level felt to me, as a establisher journaenumerate, very fascinating.

I wanted to ask you about your past life as a journaenumerate. How do you skinnyk that side of you helps — or even obstructs — your honestorial approach?

Journalism is storytelling, right? That’s the set upation of it. I don’t skinnyk there’s a huge leap. I skinnyk I’m always enticeed to genuine-life stories. Things that have a kernel of fact in them. Perhaps that is the journaenumerate in me. But after journalism, I did stand-up comedy. I then had a production company doing advertising stuff and branded satisfied. So I’ve inhabitd a scant inhabits. But thraw everyskinnyg I did, the dream was doing what I’m doing now. I was always trying to toil my way there. I was approaching 40 and I shelp to myself at 34, I necessitate to get my first narrative feature done by the time I’m 40. If it doesn’t happen by then, I don’t skinnyk it’s going to happen.

I skinnyk that people could see it in my eyes with Kneecap. That I uncomferventt it this time. I wasn’t going to consent no for an answer and one way or another, I was going to produce this film. If I could do it with an iPhone and 50 quid, I was making this film. And when the money was there, I was then very choosed that I was going to produce the film that I wanted to produce. I was going to put everyskinnyg that I enhappiness in. I was going to produce it for me as much as anyskinnyg, because flunkure is someskinnyg that I could acunderstandledge. I could acunderstandledge if no one wanted to watch the film. But what I couldn’t acunderstandledge was letting maybe too many voices in and letting the film get watered down from what it is, which is very genuine, very raw and very hazardous in places. I don’t mind them not toiling — what I would disenjoy is to have shaved off all those edges and be lying in bed six months procrastinateedr because the world had shrugged its shoulders and I’m skinnyking, what if I’d reassociate swung for the fences? What if I’d reassociate gone for it and fair tried to produce someskinnyg contrastent and someskinnyg that reassociate mirrored me as a filmproducer, would it have been a contrastent result? So, yeah, we took the danger, and we’re clearly ecinvivacious that it’s paying off.

Paying off is an lessenment. With such a cordial and fluid vibrant between you all, what was the produceive behind-the-scenes of Kneecap enjoy? Were there any descfinish-outs?

Making a film is enjoy running thraw a field of poppies. We’re trying to do a lot in a little amount of time with not enough money. There’s always tensions, there’s always difficulties. I had a very, very outstanding relationship with our [director of photography] Ryan Kernaghan, who I’ve never toiled with before. It was a huge danger for me. I necessitateed to get an Irish DOP rather than a DOP that I knovel from London. Ryan reassociate hugd the madness of it. And I don’t skinnyk any other DOP could have made the film that we made. There were always difficulties alengthy the way, but I’m still frifinishs with most people comprised. [Laughs.] Not everyone, but I won’t tell you who.