Film Ireland Podcast

In this episode of The DocArena Podcast, Ross Whitaker talks to filmmaker Dror Moreh, whose 2012 documentary 'The Gatekeepers' was nominated for Best Documentary Feature at the 85th Academy Awards. Moreh's latest film, 'The Human Factor', is the behind-the-scenes story from the last 25 years of how the United States came within reach of pulling off the impossible –securing peace between Israel and its neighbours. Today, the need to learn from past mistakes couldn’t be more urgent. http://filmireland.net/

In this episode of The DocArena Podcast, Ross Whitaker talks to Lance Oppenheim, a filmmaker from South Florida. Lance's debut feature documentary, Some Kind of Heaven, explores life inside the palm-tree-lined streets of The Villages, America’s largest retirement community in Florida. Referred to as the “Disneyland for Retirees,” this planned community is home to over 130,000 seniors. It offers residents a utopian version of the American yesteryear: wide, safe streets, perfectly manicured lawns, and countless activities all in service of enjoying their golden years. While most residents have bought into its packaged positivity, we meet four residents living on the margins, striving to find happiness. Married couple Anne and Reggie wrestle with Reggie’s deteriorating grip on reality, Barbara, a widow, seeks second love, and Dennis, an 82-year-old bachelor living out of a van, looks for a way out of a peripatetic existence. By turns biting, tender, and surreal, the film demonstrates that no matter our age, we a

“Welcome to the DocArena Podcast in association with Film Ireland. My name is Ross Whitaker and every fortnight, I want to dig deeply into the motivations of documentary filmmakers – how do they choose their subject material and what approaches and strategies do they employ to fund, craft and distribute their work…” In this second episode of DocArena, Ross talk to Johnny Gogan, whose latest film, Groundswell, brings into focus an isolated Irish border community faceing down the powerful fracking industry. The film follows the establishment of a broad-based campaign in these counties which spread nationally and internationally, leading to the passing of a seminal low in the Dáil banning fracking in 2017. With over 40 contributions from participants on both sides of the Atlantic including actor and campaigner Mark Ruffalo, Sandra Steingraber, Eddie Mitchell, Dianne Little and Nuala McNulty, Groundswell is a very affirmative story about the power of community and creativity, but also about the persistence of

"Welcome to the DocArena Podcast in association with Film Ireland. My name is Ross Whitaker and every fortnight, I want to dig deeply into the motivations of documentary filmmakers – how do they choose their subject material and what approaches and strategies do they employ to fund, craft and distribute their work..." In this inaugural DocArena podcast, Ross talks to Lisa Immordino Vreeland (Love, Cecil, Peggy Guggenheim: Art Addict, Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel), whose latest film, Truman & Tennessee: An Intimate Conversation, brings the two forces together in a unique and fascinating tête-à-tête, comparing and contrasting their trajectories through dueling voices — the writers’ own, culled from archival footage, and the voices of actors Jim Parsons and Zachary Quinto (The Boys in the Band) portraying, respectively, Capote and Williams at various stages of their lives. Both created rich, imaginary worlds and characters (Blanche DuBois, Holly Golightly) that left indelible marks on the era — and bot

Pat Collins, Director of 'Henry Glassie: Field Work' by Film Ireland

In this podcast, Gemma Creagh talks to Treasa O’Brien, director of Town of Strangers A stranger arrives in the town of Gort and announces that auditions will be held in the town hall for a new film. “Come and tell me your stories, your dreams, your lies, your memories, any gossip. All genders, nationalities and languages welcome. No acting experience necessary” is announced by the director via a loudspeaker on her van as she drives through the town. One by one, people sit into an armchair on the set of a kitchen, surrounded by old props found in the Town Hall that could have been from John B Keane’s The Field, which had been produced by the local theatre group the year before. And they tell their stories…. Town of Strangers screens on IFI@Home from 19th March 2021 http://filmireland.net/

Sarah Cullen & Richard Drumm return to the world of pod after a long hiatus - reunited over zoom, our dynamic duo take a look back at the year in film.

In this Film Ireland Podcast, Paul Farren talks to Kieron J. Walsh, Director / Co-writer of The Racer. In summer 1998, the opening stages of Le Tour de France are relocated to Ireland. At the start of what will likely be his last Tour, cyclist Dom Chabol (Louis Talpe) is dropped from the Team he has dedicated his life to. Team masseur and best friend Sonny (Iain Glen), who helped keep Dom at peak performance through illegal blood doping, fails to reassure him about his future. However a chance liaison with Lynn (Tara Lee), a young Irish doctor, softens the blow, and Dom starts to accept – and even enjoy – the idea of civilian life. But just as he gears up to head home, another teammate is knocked off the Tour and Dom is thrown back into the saddle. Now with the years of doping having taken a toll on his body, the racer may pay the ultimate price for a final shot at the glory that has eluded him his entire career… The Racer is in Irish cinemas from 11th December 2020. http://filmireland.net/

In this Film Ireland podcast, Gemma Creagh talks to Mary McGuckian, whose film A Girl From Mogadishu is released in cinemas across Ireland. The film portrays Female Genital Mutilation activist Ifrah Ahmed, who, after fleeing war-torn Somalia in 2006, is trafficked to Ireland. A traumatic medical examination when seeking asylum reveals the extent of her mutilation as a child. Traumatized by the memory, she channels the experience into a force for change and emerges as a formidable campaigner against Female Genital Mutilation at the highest political echelons in Ireland, across Europe and finally back in the country of her birth, Somalia.

In this Film Ireland podcast, Paul Farren talks to Alistair Owen about his book ‘The Art of Screen Adaptation’. In the age of cinema and TV adaptation, Alistair Owen asks a crucial question; how do you transfer a story from the page to the screen? Owen navigates this and others in conversation with some of the top screenwriters of our time, including Hossein Amini, Jeremy Brock, Moira Buffini, Lucinda Coxon, Andrew Davies, Christopher Hampton, David Hare, Olivia Hetreed, Nick Hornby, Deborah Moggarch, David Nicholls and Sarah Phelps. Exploring fiction and nonfiction projects, contemporary and classic books, films and TV series The Art of Screen Adaptation reveals the challenges and pleasures of reimagining cinema and television, and provides a frank and fascinating master class with the writers who have done it – and have the awards and acclaim to show for it. http://filmireland.net/

In this Film Ireland podcast, Gemma Creagh talks to 3 filmmakers, David Prendeville (Sins of a Werewolf), Edwina Casey (Algorithm) and Maureen O’Connell (Hum), about their short films screening at this year’s Cork International Film Festival. The short films are available to watch on the online Virtual Festival platform from 9 – 15 November 2020. http://filmireland.net/2020/11/08/podcast-cork-international-film-festival-roundtable/ https://corkfilmfest.org/

In this Film Ireland podcast, Gemma Creagh chats to Anna Kopecká, Director of Programming at the Cork International Film Festival. The festival runs online this year and Anna gives us an inside look into the Ireland's oldest film festival. http://filmireland.net/2020/11/05/podcast-interview-with-anna-kopecka-cork-film-festival-director-of-programming/

In this Film Ireland podcast, June Butler talks to artist and filmmaker Andrea Mastrovito, whose new work of horror film-art I am NOT legend, screens as part of the 2020 Bram Stoker Festival. http://filmireland.net/2020/10/28/podcast-interview-with-artist-and-filmmaker-andrea-mastrovito/

In this Film Ireland podcast (recorded earlier this year) Gemma Creagh talks to the internationally-celebrated filmmaker and artist Vivienne Dick about her latest film 'New York Our Time', an intimate and philosophical documentary that contrasts the concerns of present day living in New York with the bohemian wildness of the city in the late '70s, reflected through the lives of artists, musicians and friends of the filmmaker. 'New York Our Time' premiered at the Dublin International Film Festival 2020 and can be live streamed from Friday, 16th as part of the Kerry Film Festival. http://filmireland.net/

In this Film Ireland podcast, Gemma Creagh talks to producer John Wallace, co-founder of Cowtown Pictures with Alan Maher. Earlier this year John was selected as Ireland’s Producer on the Move for the EFP (European Film Promotion) networking programme, which usually takes place at the Cannes Film Festival but this year took place online. His latest film, Rialto, was released in cinemas on 2nd October 2020. http://filmireland.net/

In this Film Ireland podcast, Gemma Creagh talks to Peter Mackie Burns, the Director of Rialto, which is released across Irish cinemas on October 2nd and in Dublin Cinemas from October 10th once cinemas re-open. In the wake of his father’s death, Colm (Tom Vaughan-Lawlor) must come to terms with his actions and find the resolve to halt the crumbing facade of his home, his family, and everything he has built. Rialto is released in Irish cinemas 2nd October and in Dublin 10th October 2020.

In this Film Ireland Podcast, Gemma Creagh talks to Director Daniel Holmes & Producer Matthew Toman about their film Street Leagues, which tells the inspiring story of the Irish Homeless Street Leagues – where homeless people and recovering addicts use the power of sport to regain their self-worth and reclaim their lives. In cinemas from 25th September 2020. http://filmireland.net/

In this podcast, Paul Farren talks to Irish journalist, film historian and author Wayne Byrne about the craft of writing about film. From his early days reviewing films for the Leinster Leader, through writing his first book, Include Me Out: The Cinema of Tom DiCillo, to working on his latest project on the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise, Wayne reflects on his journey to date and how he approaches writing about film and why he does it. http://filmireland.net/

In this Film Ireland podcast director Phil Sheerin and writer David Turpin chat to Gemma Creagh ahead of the premiere of their atmospheric drama at the Galway Film Fleadh. With nowhere else to go, Tom (Anson Boon) and his mother, Elaine (Charlie Murphy), return to her childhood home in Ireland. While exploring, Tom makes a disturbing discovery in the nearby seasonal lake that forces him into a troubling personal dilemma. After meeting the father (Michael McElhatton) and daughter (Emma Mackey), from the neighbouring farm, their complex web of secrets and lies are revealed to pull Tom and Elaine into a violent confrontation with the darkest parts of human nature. Cast: Anson Boon, Charlie Murphy, Michael McElhatton, Emma Mackey, Mark McKenna The Winter Lake screens at https://www.galwayfilmfleadh.com/ from Friday, 10th July at 9:00 PM. Followed by Q + A with cast and crew.

In this Film Ireland podcast Gemma Creagh talks to Will Fitzgerald, the Galway Film Fleadh Programme Director ahead of this year's festival about the challenges he faced moving the festival online and what Irish films are on offer this year.