Film Ireland Podcast

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 h...

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 an...

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 crime...

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 mi...

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 jo...

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...

In this Film Ireland podcast, Gemma Creagh talks to Phyllidia Lloyd, about directing the powerful Irish film Herself . Phyllida Lloyd   Lloyd was born in Nempnett Thrubwell in Somerset, she studied drama at Birmingham University. After graduating, she worked for BBC Television Drama, followed by associate director posts at the Wolsey Theatre Ipswich, the Everyman Theatre in Cheltenham an...

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 Groun...

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. T...

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 c...

In episode 9 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 b...

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/ Over the years, the podcast has featured acclaimed guests such as Phyllida Lloyd , Lenny Abrahamson , M. Night Shyamalan , John Boorman, Saoirse Ronan, Colin Farrell, Aisha Tyler, Co...

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 sus...

In episode 7 of The DocArena Podcast , Ross Whitaker talks to some of the team behind Netflix's latest series Sophie: A Murder in West Cork . Director John Dower , and exec producers Suzanne Lavery and Simon Chinn . 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 – ho...

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...

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-ye...

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...

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 re...

“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,...

"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,...

Henry Glassie: Field Work from Director Pat Collins is a portrait of the celebrated folklorist and ethnologist Henry Glassie. Inspired by and featuring Glassie – ‘Field Work’, is an immersive and meditative film set among the rituals and rhythms of working artists in Brazil, Turkey, North Carolina and Ireland. The film displays the director’s trademark eye for details and the process of the artist...

In this podcast, Gemma Creagh talks to Treasa O’Brien, director of Town of StrangersA 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 lo...

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. Over the years, the podcast has featured acclaimed guests such as Phyllida Lloyd , Lenny Abrahamson , M. Night Shyamalan , John Boorman, Saoirse Ronan, Colin Farrell, Aisha Tyler, Colm Meaney, Paul Reiser , Niamh Algar, David Freyne, Ciarán Donnell...

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...

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 mem...