An Irish schoolteacher joins forces with two rebellious youths to create a revolutionary hip hop group in their native language.
Trailer
Why watch this film?
When fate brings Belfast schoolteacher JJ into the orbit of self-confessed ‘low life scum' Naoise & Liam Og, the needle drops on a hip hop act like no other. Rapping in their native Irish language, Kneecap fast become the unlikely figureheads of a Civil Rights movement to save their mother tongue. But the trio must first overcome police, paramilitaries & politicians trying to silence their defiant sound - whilst their anarchic approach to life often makes them their own worst enemies. In this fiercely original sex, drugs and hip-hop biopic Kneecap play themselves, laying down a global rallying cry for the defense of native cultures.
"Kneecap is an Irish film with a strong anti-colonialist spirit that begins with a powerful premise about national identity: for nations to exist, their native language is essential. The story recounts the origin of the eponymous hip hop group, and how a music teacher and two young people from Belfast – one of whom is the son of a prominent republican paramilitary – create a hip hop project in the Irish language, which ultimately becomes a media and political phenomenon, as well as a banner for Irish nationalists. With a visual language as frantic and bold as the band's lyrics, the film functions as an entertaining biopic, but also as a reminder of the importance of language as part of a people's identity."