Film Ireland Podcast

In this Film Ireland podast Gemma Creagh talks to Ross Killeen about Love Yourself Today, which centres around the music of Irish singer songwriter Damien Dempsey but also turns the lens onto his fans.

We are thrilled to be partnering with Still Voices Short Film Festival to bring you a series of podcasts. This episode features Ariane Louis-Seize, Reza Riahi and Hazel McKibbin talking to Roisin Kearney ahead of their films screening at this year’s festival. https://filmireland.net/ https://stillvoicesfilmfestival.com/

Set against the backdrop of the Cervical Check scandal that rocked Ireland, 'The Letters' tells the story of three women from different walks of life who have been given mere weeks to live due to the false results of their cervical cancer checks. Mary is a woman in her 50's who is the sole carer of her elderly mum with late stage Alzheimer's, Sam is a single mother in debt and struggling to raise her four kids and Cliona a single career driven woman who rates low on the autism spectrum that results in anxiety and social awkwardness. 'The Letters' screens from the 29th of October in selected cinemas, Odeon (Charlestown) Omni-PLex (Rathmines Dublin, Limerick, Cork) Eye Cinema (Galway).

We are thrilled to be partnering with Still Voices Short Film Festival to bring you a series of podcasts. This year acclaimed director Terence Davies will attend the 2021 festival for a special screening of his 1988 masterpiece Distant Voices, Still Lives (after which the festival took its name). Ahead of his appearance Terence was kind enough to give us his time and join Paul Farren to talk about films, filmmaking and all that comes between! Terence will also give a Masterclass at the festival - full details and tickets here. Still Voices Short Film Festival runs 4-7 November. See the full programme at http://stillvoicesfilmfestival.com/ https://filmireland.net/

In this episode of The DocArena Podcast, Ross Whitaker talks to Ric Burns about his documentary Oliver Sacks: His Own Life. Oliver Sacks: His Own Life explores the life and work of the legendary neurologist and storyteller, as he shares intimate details of his battles with drug addiction, homophobia, and a medical establishment that accepted his work only decades after the fact. Sacks, known for his literary works Awakenings and The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, was a fearless explorer of unknown cognitive worlds who helped redefine our understanding of the brain and mind, the diversity of human experience, and our shared humanity. The film features exclusive interviews with Sacks conducted just weeks after he received a terminal diagnosis, and months prior to his death in August 2015. Oliver Sacks: His Own Life is screening at the IFI and is also available on Digital platforms. https://filmireland.net/

We are thrilled to be partnering with Still Voices Short Film Festival to bring you a series of podcasts. We’re kicking off with 3 very talented documentary filmmakers. Kaitlyn Schwalje & Alex Wolf Lewis join us to talk about their film Snowy and Tom Dream joins us to talk about his film Shy Radicals. We were delighted to have fellow filmmaker Jenny Keogh hosting and making this such a fabulous and informative conversation. Still Voices Short Film Festival runs 4-7 November. See the full programme here. https://filmireland.net/ https://stillvoicesfilmfestival.com/

In this Film Ireland podcast, Gemma Creagh talks to Tom Sullivan, Writer/Director of Arracht. Arracht tells the story of Colmán Sharkey, a fisherman, a father, a husband, living in Connemara in 1845 as The Great Hunger is about to fall on Ireland. As land taxes rise and crops rot Colmán confronts his Landlord, the night ends in deadly violence and Colman is forced to go on the run, hunted for crimes he did not commit. As the years pass in solitude, Colmán returns to the mainland and encounters a young girl, Kitty and a life-saving friendship develops. Arracht is in cinemas from 15th October 2021

In this Film Ireland podcast, Gemma Creagh talks to David Burke about his film Father of the Cyborgs. Father of the Cyborgs looks at the fascinating life and career of Irish neuroscientist Dr Phil Kennedy. In the late 1990s he made global headlines for implanting several wire electrodes in the brain of a paralysed man and then teaching the locked-in patient to control a computer cursor with his mind. He was compared to Alexander Graham Bell in The Washington Post and became known as ‘The Father of the Cyborgs’. He made the headlines more recently in 2014 when he travelled to South American and had tiny electrodes implanted inside his own brain in order to continue his research. The documentary examines the ethics of self-experimentation and the unintended consequences of a future where technology and human brains combine. The documentary is the directorial debut of David Burke who co-produces with Sean Ó’Cualáin. The pair previously worked together on the IFTA-nominated documentary Crash and Burn. Fat

In this Film Ireland podcast, Natasha Waugh talks to Christine Molloy and Joe Lawlor about their film Rose Plays Julie. This podcast was recorded at the 2020 Dublin International Film Festival ahead of the film’s premiere. Rose Plays Julie is an intense, edge-of-your-seat story of revenge centring on a young woman searching for her biological mother. Addressing a deep longing, Rose undertakes a journey that leads her to revelations that are both devastating and dangerous. Rose Plays Julie features Ann Skelly, Orla Brady and Aidan Gillen. This interview was recorded in 2020 ahead of the film’s premiere at the Dublin International Film Festival. Rose Plays Julie is in cinemas from 17th September 2021.

In this Film Ireland podcast, Gemma Creagh chats to Niall Owens about his debut feature film Gateway, which screens at IndieCork 2021 Film Festival (19th September – 3rd October). Mike a low-level drug dealer is haunted by a recent death. Unable to shake his waking nightmare, Mike’s business has suffered and he and his gang are in debt to a ruthless supplier. In need of quick cash, the gang plan to grow a large amount of weed to settle the debt, now all they need is a quiet place to grow it. When Mike is given the address to an unassuming abandoned house it would appear that their problems are solved. But when confronted by a locked door within the house, unease starts to form within the gang and old feuds begin to fester. Gateway screens at the Gate Cinema on the 19th of September at 20:30 as part of IndieCork 2021 Film Festival, which runs 19th September – 3rd October. Niall Owens is a Writer/Director and 1st Assistant Director from Cork City, Ireland. Niall has worked for 15 years in the Film and TV

In this Film Ireland podcast, Gemma Creagh talks to Phyllidia Lloyd, Director of Herself. Herself follows the story of Sandra (Clare Dunne), who on the surface of it, is a young Mum struggling to provide her two young daughters with a warm, safe, happy home to grow up in. Beneath the surface, Sandra has a steely determination to change their lives for the better and when it becomes clear that there are no other options left to her, she decides to build it herself from scratch, drawing together a community of friends to support her. Supporting cast includes Harriet Walter (Succession), Conleth Hill (Game of Thrones) and Cathy Belton (Philomena). Herself in in cinemas from 10th September 2021. https://filmireland.net/

In this Film Ireland podcast, Gemma Creagh talks to Philip Doherty (writer / director) and Aaron Monaghan (lead) about Redemption of A Rogue. Redemption of A Rogue, the first feature film from the award-winning playwright Philip Doherty (Pilgrim) follows Jimmy, played by Cavan native Aaron Monaghan (MAZE, Assassin’s Creed), on his road to salvation after returning to his hometown. Stuck in a Groundhog Day-like purgatory, Jimmy embarks on a sacrificial and outlandish journey to rid himself of his guilt and shame from the past, ultimately redeeming himself through love. Redemption Of A Rogue is in cinemas from 27th August 2021.

In this Film Ireland podcast, Gemma Creagh talks to actor/writer and festival programmer Tania Notaro ahead of the Dublin Feminist Film Festival, which takes place 20-22 August 2021. Tania guides us through the programme and lets us know what to expect. The Dublin Feminist Film Festival promotes and celebrates female filmmakers, hoping to inspire and empower others to get involved in filmmaking. This involves considering women on-screen, but also behind the camera, through celebrating and showcasing fantastic female filmmaking, as well as demonstrating that women make compelling and complex characters and subjects. Check out this year’s programme https://www.ifihome.ie/page/dfff-2021/ https://filmireland.net/

In this Film Ireland podcast, Gemma Creagh talks to Chris Baugh, Writer/Director of Boys From County Hell. Welcome to Six Mile Hill, a sleepy Irish backwater whose only claim to fame is the somewhat dubious local legend that Bram Stoker once spent a night in the local pub. It’s home to Eugene Moffat, a young man who fills most of his days drinking pints with his friends and pranking tourists who come to visit the gravesite of Abhartach, a legendary Irish vampire some believe to have inspired ‘Dracula.’ When a personal tragedy forces Eugene to go and work for his gruff, no-nonsense father he finds himself on the site of a controversial new road development that threatens to destroy the town’s livelihood. But strange events unfold when Eugene and the crew tear down a famous cairn believed to be the final resting place of Abhartach and they soon come under attack from a sinister force that has infected one of their workmates. As the night closes in The Boys must fight for survival while discovering the true hor

In this episode of The DocArena Podcast, Ross Whitaker talks to Kristina Lindström & Kristian Petri about their documentary The Most Beautiful Boy in the World. Fifty years after the premiere of Death in Venice, The Most Beautiful Boy in the World explores the life of Björn Andrésen, the former teen star who embodied the legendary character Tadzio and whom director Luchino Visconti dubbed “the most beautiful boy in the world”. In 1970, filmmaker Luchino Visconti travelled throughout Europe looking for the perfect boy to personify absolute beauty in his adaptation for the screen of Thomas Mann’s Death in Venice. In Stockholm, he discovered Björn Andrésen, a shy 15-year-old teenager whom he brought to international fame overnight and led to spend a short but intense part of his turbulent youth between the Lido in Venice, London, the Cannes Film Festival and the so distant Japan. Fifty years after the premiere of Death in Venice, Björn takes us on a remarkable journey made of personal memories, cinema history,

In this Film Ireland podcast Gemma Creagh talks to filmmakers ,Annika Cassidy, Diarmuid Donohoe and Kamila Dydyna whose short films are screening at this year's Galway Film Fleadh (20-25 July). https://filmireland.net/

In this episode of The DocArena Podcast, Ross Whitaker talks to Kim Bartley, the director of Pure Grit, which is screening at this year's Galway Film Fleadh. Pure Grit is both a thrilling tale of extreme bareback horse racing, and an intimate love story. Chronicling three years in the life of a young Native American bareback horse racer, her unwavering determination, and the relationships that sustain her. Sharmaine is a former horse racing champion, determined to ride and win. It's been a year since she last raced. A year since her sister was paralysed in a catastrophic accident on the track. Sharmaine quit racing to care for her. In the stunning Wyoming wilderness of the Wind River reservation, Sharmaine and her new girlfriend Savannah begin to build a life for themselves. They hope for better. But the atmosphere at home soon deteriorates and the young lovers are forced to leave for the industrial Commerce City, Denver. The city brings freedom and opportunity, but also distractions and a strain on their fle

In this episode of The DocArena Podcast, Ross Whitaker talks to some of the team behind Sophie: A Murder in West Cork. Director John Dower, and exec producers Suzanne Lavery and Simon Chinn. This three-part Netflix series examines one of Ireland's most famous murder cases, the death of French producer Sophie Toscan du Plantier in the town of Schull, West Cork in 1996. The brutal murder, which shocked the country, triggered one of the biggest murder investigations Ireland had ever seen and became a national obsession. The documentary charts the circumstances of her death, unravelling the extraordinary story from its beginning, 24 years ago to the present day. With exclusive access to Sophie Toscan du Plantier's family, the series brings together, for the first time, the views of her family with Ian Bailey, the man at the centre of the investigation. Subscribe http://filmireland.net/

In this episode of The DocArena Podcast, Ross Whitaker talks to Jerry Rothwell, director of The Reason I Jump. Based on the bestselling book by Naoki Higashida, The Reason I Jump is an immersive cinematic exploration of neurodiversity through the experiences of nonspeaking autistic people from around the world. The film blends Higashida’s revelatory descriptions of his autism, written when he was just 13, with intimate portraits of five remarkable young people. It opens a window into an intense and overwhelming, but often joyful, sensory universe, a rich tapestry that leads us to Naoki’s core message: not being able to speak does not mean there is nothing to say. http://filmireland.net/

In this episode of The DocArena Podcast, Ross Whitaker talks to filmmaker Maeve O’Boyle. Maeve is the editor and co-director along with Aideen Kane, Lucy Kennedy, of The 8th, the first independently made documentary about the triumphant referendum campaign led by a group of women including Ailbhe Smyth and Andrea Horan to repeal the Eighth Amendment and change Ireland’s abortion laws after a 35-year long struggle. While featuring voices from both sides of the debate, the primary focus of this new documentary is on the dynamic female leaders of the pro-choice campaign. The film closely follows veteran pro-choice campaigner Ailbhe Smyth, co-director of the ‘Together for Yes’ campaign, and self-described glitter activist and co-presenter of the podcast Don’t Stop Repealin’, Andrea Horan, as they chart a bold strategy of grassroots activism and engineer the near impossible. This dramatic story is underscored by a vivid exploration of the wrenching failures that led to this defining moment in Irish history. _____