One of the things we love here at Scannain is filmmakers who are not afraid to take risks. Filmmakers who have a desire, a passion to bring their cinematic dreams to life. And we feel we have an obligation to help in whatever small way we can to make their visions real. That’s why we have this column to help Irish filmmakers who are crowd-sourcing funding for their films gain a little more exposure. Please check out the projects below, and if one takes your fancy please help these films come to life. Give a little love to Irish films.
Pockets
A homage to Martin McDonagh’s work in the style of something like Six Shooter (his Oscar winning short in 2006).
Plot Details: The film stars Irish acting veteran, Mary McEvoy (Glenroe, Moll Flanders) as a women on the edge who meets a young man on a bench in the early hours of a mid week morning. With nothing at all in common these two connect over the most basic of things: the next step. It’s a dark comedy with a very serious theme.
Cast and Crew: Lochlainn Mckenna, Donogh MacCarthy-Morrogh, Mary McEvoy, Emer Mulcahy, Brett McCoy D’Arcy, Jack Lunt, Hugo Parvéry, Tamasin MacCarthy-Morrogh, Christopher Hopcraft, Ciara Hicks, Colin Patrick Kelleher, Siobhan Keane Hopcraft, Franz Tomasik, and Robert McCarthy
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Daddy Pig
The brainchild of Kenny Leigh and Stephen Mullan and will be shot this summer in Bantry in Co. Cork
Plot Details: A feature film that will take audiences on a surreal trip through fatherhood and beyond.
Cast and Crew: Kenny Leigh, Stephen Mullan, Eimear Ennis Graham, Richard Bolger
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Waking the Witch
“Are you a witch, are you a fairy, are you the wife of Michael Cleary?”
With influences such as The Innocents and The Fog, this psychological thriller will have a unique tone. It combines careful observation of the characters with the unnerving possibility of an unseen force at work, guiding the hand of fate towards the final brutal outcome.
Plot Details: Marianne is a teenager killing time on her summer holidays by accompanying her uncle on a research trip, delving into the life and death of Bridget Cleary, the last witch burned in Ireland. Marianne is also dealing with the memory of a traumatic incident, and the effort of repressing it is causing psychological schisms. Marianne, instead of confronting her problems, immerses herself in preparations for the midsummer festival. She’s intrigued by the bohemian lifestyle of her uncle and his friends, and captivated by a young artist she encounters. As the fractures in reality increase in frequency, she starts to sense that she has more in common with Cleary than she’d like.
Cast and Crew: Neil O’Driscoll, Mollie Molumby, Emer O’Carroll, Marcus Lamb, Bridget O’Gorman, James Keating, Neil Hynes
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Isle of the Heart
Re-creation of a family’s 4 years on the unique Blasket Islands, Ireland as told by their son. A documentary, shot on 16mm film.
Plot Details: This is a unique film project which will involve the re creation of a family’s life on the Blasket Island, where they lived for 4 years as the sole residents. The filmmaker has a set of remarkable first memories of the Blasket Island. These have never been told before and will be re-created on film.
Cast and Crew: Simon Francis Hambrook, Dominic Thorn, Jared Jones