This screening will be introduced by Michael Leader, co-host of the podcast Ghibliotheque and co-author of The Ghibliotheque Anime Movie Guide.
Tomm Moore’s 2014 animated feature seeped in a mythic, fantastical and folkish otherworld of Ireland. Captured in a uniquely Celtic, vibrant and expressive 2D animated style, the film visually explores ideas of language and storytelling through the creative world that Cartoon Saloon crafts.
A mute girl with a mystical connection to seals, called Saoirse's celebrates her 6th birthday, where she mysteriously disappears. Her older brother Ben (aged 10) ventures forth to find her, while he deals with the grief of losing his mother 6 years prior, the same day his sister entered his life. He must learn to understand the strange fantasy world that Saoirse is lost in and learn to accept her as part of his family.
Featuring Brendan Gleeson and an exploration of Irish song, story and myth, get ready to enter an emotional and pristine adventure.
This screening is part of Visions of an Otherworld, a season allowing viewers to see spiritual and mythical stories using the Irish language, telling contemporary and compelling stories that offer another world of Irish Film and Identity.
Irish culture has recently taken on a resurgence through literature, TV shows and particularly film, with Claire Keegan’s ‘Small Things like These’, Sally Rooney’s ‘Normal People’ and Martin McDonagh’s ‘The Banshees of Inisherin’. These stories offer a view of Ireland’s filmic identity currently, but they are still being spoken in English and not Irish. In a 2023 interview during the BAFTA Awards, Irish actor Paul Mescal stated, "Broken Irish is better than clever English," as he and many other young people have become advocates for reclaiming their language through films. My season offers a unique blend of films, all in Irish language from the last decade, from young Directors, which offer unique but universal stories which hope to question what it means to be Irish in our current times.
In Ireland’s distant past, there were seanchaí (travelling storytellers) who ventured from village to village, sharing stories around a campfire, orally presenting Ireland’s strong storytelling heritage to bring communities together around a shared passion for their unique cultural identity. This passion for stories and language, when combined with the medium of film, blends together in current directors who are crafting stories that are trying to redefine what it means to be Irish. Colm Bairéad’s 2022 fiction film ‘The Quiet Girl’, Ciara Nic Chormaic’s 2022 documentary ‘Clouded Reveries’, Pat Collins’s 2017 biographic feature ‘Song of Granite’ and Tomm Moore’s 2014 animation ‘Song of the Sea’ all offer unique views of what it means to be Irish, as this new filmic identity comes of age.
Visions of an Otherworld is presented in partnership with the National Film and Television School. This programme has been curated by NFTS Film Studies, Programming and Curation student, Joseph Pidgeon.
Irish Film and Identity on the big screen
Visions of an Otherworld is a season allowing viewers to see spiritual and mythical stories using the Irish language, telling contemporary and compelling stories that offer another world of Irish Film and Identity.
Irish culture has recently taken on a resurgence through literature, TV shows and particularly film, with Claire Keegan’s ‘Small Things like These’, Sally Rooney’s ‘Normal People’ and Martin McDonagh’s ‘The Banshees of Inisherin’. These stories offer a view of Ireland’s filmic identity currently, but they are still being spoken in English and not Irish. In a 2023 interview during the BAFTA Awards, Irish actor Paul Mescal stated, "Broken Irish is better than clever English," as he and many other young people have become advocates for reclaiming their language through films. My season offers a unique blend of films, all in Irish language from the last decade, from young Directors, which offer unique but universal stories which hope to question what it means to be Irish in our current times.
In Ireland’s distant past, there were seanchaí (travelling storytellers) who ventured from village to village, sharing stories around a campfire, orally presenting Ireland’s strong storytelling heritage to bring communities together around a shared passion for their unique cultural identity. This passion for stories and language, when combined with the medium of film, blends together in current directors who are crafting stories that are trying to redefine what it means to be Irish. Colm Bairéad’s 2022 fiction film ‘The Quiet Girl’, Ciara Nic Chormaic’s 2022 documentary ‘Clouded Reveries’, Pat Collins’s 2017 biographic feature ‘Song of Granite’ and Tomm Moore’s 2014 animation ‘Song of the Sea’ all offer unique views of what it means to be Irish, as this new filmic identity comes of age.
Visions of an Otherworld is presented in partnership with the National Film and Television School. This programme has been curated by NFTS Film Studies, Programming and Curation student, Joseph Pidgeon.
