DUBLIN, Ireland: Tourism Ireland has partnered with IMAX to create a movie highlighting the finest sites in Ireland, in a bid to encourage tourists to return to Ireland.

"From a tourism perspective [the film] is a great opportunity with terrific cinematography, just to showcase the natural beauty and authenticity of Ireland," said Alison Metcalfe of Tourism Ireland, as quoted by martech.org.

The IMAX movie, entitled Ireland and narrated by actor Liam Neeson, has been produced and distributed by MacGillivray Freeman Films (MFF), known for making IMAX documentaries, including Everest and To the Arctic.

"The IMAX movie is obviously the centerpiece, and we're working with MFF in building out a whole promotional campaign which will play out over most of the next year," she said.

Aside from scenes of Ireland's natural beauty on 70mm film, Ireland, the movie, also focuses on writer Manachan Magan and concert violinist Patricia Treacey as they explore Ireland's culture and meet people of Irish heritage throughout the world as they reconnect to Ireland.

"Ireland for our company and our family has always been a place we'd wanted to make a film on," said Shaun MacGillivray, producer of Ireland and MFF's President. "We've made films all over the world, but we'd never done a film on Ireland, its history, and it had never been done in IMAX before. It seemed like just an incredible topic."

The film was completed in 2020, just prior to the Covid lockdowns worldwide.

"By following a writer around Ireland in the movie, you do get a sense of the past, as well as the present," said Metcalfe.

"We're looking to develop how we can bring the story to life," Metcalfe said. "Particularly during the pandemic and the recovery; seeing is believing."