Good news for Olympic boxer Francis Barrett. Southpaw, a documentary feature film following the footsteps of the Irish boxer's career is the only Irish film to be accepted by Robert Redford's Sundance Film Festival 1999. It will be premiered in Ireland on Thursday week, January 14th in Virgin cinemas.

The film is directed by Liam McGrath and produced by Rob Walpole and Paddy Breathnach, the duo responsible for the Irish film I Went Down.

Barrett, a Galway traveller, won the Irish light welterweight title. With training facilities which had neither electricity nor running water, he reached the highest level in the sport and travelled to Atlanta in 1996 for the Olympic Games. He was the first traveller to represent Ireland and carried the Irish flag during the opening ceremony.

Barrett subsequently married his girlfriend Kathleen McDonagh and moved from Galway to London where he continues to box. Tickets for the premiere cost £50 and proceeds for the evening go to Sport Against Racism Ireland (SARI).