Film Ireland Podcast

This episode of InConversation features writer/director/producer Brian Deane. Brian is from Cork and graduate holder of a BA in English & Philosophy and a MA in Film. He won his first short film award for his graduation film ‘Without Words’ in Cannes in 2008 as part of Spike Lee’s International Film Festival and has been seen by 400,000 people on Youtube. His first short film since college, ‘Volkswagen Joe’ has won awards in Rome, Boston, Dublin, Galway, Britain and Chicago in 2014 and also won the Best Short Drama award at the Celtic Media Awards. His web Series ‘CTRL’ has been nominated for Best Drama at the IAWTV awards in Las Vegas & at Raindance International Film Festival. His first Irish language film, 'Céad Ghrá', has screened in Galway, Cork, Dublin, San Francisco, Boston, Cleveland, Newport Beach, Rhode Island, Edmonton, Wichita, Washington and Seattle International Film Festivals so far as well as winning best short in the GAZE Film Festival in Ireland. His 2015 film ‘Blight’ won Grand Prix Eu

Adam McPartlan was at the Capital Irish Film Festival 2016 and talked to some of the filmmakers. Director Alex Fegan and producer Garry Walsh of Older Than Ireland - a landmark documentary that tells the story of a hundred years of a life as seen through the eyes of thirty Irish centenarians. Rachel Lysaght, producer of Traders - two strangers put all of their money into one bag and fight to the death to claim it all. Donncha Gilmore, writer of Bonsoir Luna - an Irish-language musical, which tells the story of Duke, a street artist, and Luna, a blind barista, who fall in love. Paddy Hayes, director of Deoch an Dorais (Name Your Poison)- the legend of Mike Malloy, the man who wouldn’t die. Eileen Davis and David Dryden, co-directors of Together in Pieces - the infamous murals of Northern Ireland that have plagued both communities are being painted over into something more positive. The Capital Irish Film Festival 2016 took place 3 - 16 March. http://filmireland.net/

‘Who is Dervla Murphy?’ profiles Ireland’s most prolific travel writer, through rare and exclusive access to Dervla, her family and friends. Grace Corry met with director Garret Daly to find out more about his documentary and the elusive figure it reveals. http://filmireland.net/

Kapow! Biff!! Thwack!!! Chat!!!! Taking a break from fighting evil, our caped caster of pods Richard Drumm joins forces with the cryptic campaigner Paul Farren and Forbidden Planet's masked magician Scott Adair to enter the multiverse of DC's iconic characters and contemplate the battle of the franchises.

Grace Corry talks to the IFI's Head of Irish Film Programming, Sunniva O'Flynn about the upcoming IFI annual event Spotlight - a day dedicated to focusing on Irish film and television; reviewing the past year and considering current trends in production, distribution and consumption of new work. This year there will be a particular focus on women in the Irish film and television industry and an examination of moves towards creation of gender equality in the sector. For more info on the day's event, visit www.ifi.ie

In this episode of The Actors’ Room, Lynn Larkin is joined by John Connors. John is an actor and writer, whose features include King of the Travellers, Stalker and Monged. John will also feature in Jim Sheridan's upcoming film, The Secret Scripture, and Mark O'Connor's Cardboard Gangsters, which he co-wrote with Mark. John's television work includes Love/Hate, Charlie and Rebellion.

This episode of InConversation features Sunniva O'Flynn, Head of Irish Film Programming at the Irish Film Institute, who gives us a fascinating insight into the history of the IFI, film as an educational tool and the preservation of Irish film.

Richard and Jonathan bring their latest box of film delights to you with a shiny new podcast. Amongst the chit and the chat, film news and reviews, producers Sarah Barr and Aoife Kelly drop in to talk about Them's the Breaks, a new Irish documentary currently in production which aims to explore and tackle gender inequality in the arts in Ireland. Films considered in this episode include Hail Caesar, The Truth Commissioner, Traders, The River, Goodnight Mommy, and The Witch

Deirdre Molumby talks to John Carney, the director of Sing Street, about returning to Dublin to film after Begin Again, making modern-day musicals and making a period film. Sing Street takes us back to 1980s Dublin where an economic recession forces Conor out of his comfortable private school and into survival mode at the inner-city public school where the kids are rough and the teachers are rougher. He finds a glimmer of hope in the mysterious and über-cool Raphina, and with the aim of winning her heart he invites her to star in his band’s music videos. She agrees, and now Conor must deliver what he’s promised – calling himself “Cosmo” and immersing himself in the vibrant rock music trends of the ‘80s, he forms a band with a few lads, and the group pours their hearts into writing lyrics and shooting videos.

Interview: Jack Reynor, Sing Street by Film Ireland

Paul Farren talks to Ben Wheatley about his latest film High Rise, adapted from J.G. Ballard’s visionary novel.

Film Ireland are delighted to be launching The Actors' Room, a new series of podcasts featuring conversations with actors. To kick off the series, Glenn Keogh dropped in for a chat with Lynn Larkin to give us the insight on working in LA. Glenn has been living and working in LA for the past 9 years, picking up roles on a number of high-profile TV series, including Castle, Criminal Minds, Undercovers, Days of Our Lives, Ray Donovan, Sons of Anarchy, Once Upon a Time, Scorpion and New Girl. Glenn's feature film credits include working alongside fellow Irish actor Jack Reynor in Transformers: Age of Extinction.

This Saturday (5th March) the IFI hosts a panel discussion looking at female identities and Hollywood film followed by a screening of Howard Hawks’ 1940 screwball comedy His Girl Friday. Diane Negra, Professor of Film Studies and Screen Culture and Head of Film Studies at UCD, along with Dr. Deborah Jermyn (Roehampton University) and Dr. Shelley Cobb (University of Southampton) will address a diverse set of questions in relation to the continued viability of the ‘chick flick’ as a means of coming to grips with some of the ideological uncertainties, ambivalences and industrial shifts that currently characterise female media representation. Sarah Griffin sat down with Diane Negra to talk about Saturday's event and discuss the historical roots of the contemporary chick flick, the representation of women in chick flicks, and what the post epitaph chick flick is.

In February, the IFI hosted a comprehensive retrospective of the work of Cathal Black. Sunniva O'Flynn Head of Irish Film Programming at the IFI writes "Part of Ireland’s ‘First Wave’ of independent filmmakers in the 1970s and ‘80s, Black began to explore the contradictions, problems and preoccupations within Irish society in a way which hadn’t before been attempted in film. He wanted to “make Irish films for Irish audiences, pictures that are recognisably Irish but stand up to European notions of style . . . to be truthful to our own visual interpretation of this country and reach Irish audiences our way.” Black’s narratives of distinctly drawn and wholly sympathetic individuals are often bleak but leavened by dark humour, or historical and enlivened by ingrained and powerful passions. He burrows into the national psyche to find unsettling tales of unease – of alienation, homosexuality, prostitution, emigration, poverty and despair. His characters fight to escape the shibboleths of Ireland’s heroic past a

Richard and Jonathan make an aural return in the middle of awards season to cast an eye over the difference between outstanding and best. The hosts preview the Audi Dublin International Film Festival looking forward to monkeys in post-coital positions and Frank Sinatra karate-chopping suspicious Koreans and tables. Plus a look at what's playing on the big screen, including Strangerland, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, The Assassin, Spotlight, Trumbo, Our Brand is Crisis and Deadpool.

June Butler chats to Grainne Humphreys, the festival director of the Audi Dublin International Film Festival, about the selection process involved in the festival and what's in store for Irish film lovers this year, including Sing Steet, Viva and this year's films from Reel Art, an Arts Council scheme designed to provide film artists with a unique opportunity to make highly creative, imaginative and experimental documentaries on an artistic theme, operated in association with Filmbase.

'Atlantic' is the latest film from the makers of the multi-award-winning documentary, The Pipe (2010). The film follows the fortunes of three small fishing communities – in Ireland, Norway and Newfoundland – which are at turns united and divided by the Atlantic Ocean. Grace Corry sat down with director Risteard O’Domhnaill ahead of the film's screening at the Audi Dublin International Film Festival to discuss the mounting challenges the communities face within their own industries. Follow Irish film at http://filmireland.net/

Jonathan Victory talks to Michael Kinirons about co-writing the Australian-Irish drama suspense film 'Strangerland', directed by Kim Farrant. The film stars Nicole Kidman and Joseph Fiennes, whose two teenage children disappear into the remote Australian desert, pushing their relationship to the brink as they confront the mystery of their children's fate.

Grace Corry talks to Tom McCarthy, the director of the Oscar-nominated film 'Spotlight', the riveting true story of the team of Boston Globe reporters and editors that uncovered an unimaginable conspiracy to cover up clergy child abuse.

Our British hosts Jonathan Victory and Richard Drumm return to your ears in their first podcast of 2016. There's Oscar talk, including the Irish Nominations and #OscarsSoWhite and the winners are announced by our hosts ahead of the ceremony. There's also a round-up of the latest films, including The Big Short, The Hateful 8, The Revenant and Irish films Shem The Penman and Room.