New Irish Shorts – Programme #1
This selection of shorts reflects on rough & rowdy ways. We all find
ourselves stuck between a rock and a hard place sometimes, and the
answer is not always where we expect to find it, be it in Irish dancing,
a 1980s computer game or eating ice cream with an allegedly cursed black
cat.
Moulding Fergal
Dir. Christopher McSherry, 6mins
Housepainter Fergal finds a spot of mould in his bedroom. Nothing a lick of paint wouldn’t fix. But the mould comes back aggressively, and Fergal soon finds himself fighting for his life and his sanity. His battle against the dark crevices of the mind is told through lovingly handmade stop-motion animation.
Mí-ádh (Bad Luck)
Dir. Damian McCann, 17mins
Down on luck and down on life, taxi driver Seán figures now is the time to end it all. When a woman with a black cat jumps in his cab, he finds his luck changing in unexpected ways. This darkly funny take on mortality and superstition unfolds as a tense yet tender two-hander.
Escape Routes
Dir. Zoe O’Rourke, 15mins
This affecting period piece focuses on the relationship between a lonely young girl and her teenage babysitter. Through a shared love of the computer game ZORK, she learns about the big bad world and the urge to run away from it all.
Panganaly
Dir. Alex Gill, 10mins
A Filipino nurse is late for her shift after picking up her Irish-born daughter. Now stuck in traffic, they butt heads over their different upbringings and perceptions of each other. A smart and incisive examination of diaspora and family.
That’s So Feis
Dir. Eileen Tracy, 16mins
Millennial Gemma is right on the verge of getting married when her fiancé breaks things off out of the blue. Depressed and dispirited, she soon discovers a new lust for life after taking on Irish dancing, and finding kindred spirit amongst Gen Z teenagers.