Shop
Oileán Thoraí
Harvest Films 2002 52 mins
DVD €30.00 incl. Postage & Packing
Tory
Island, nine miles off the coast of Donegal is the most remote
inhabited island off Ireland. Its notorious inaccessibility and unforgiving landscape has not deterred 150 people from making this island their home. Óílean Thoraí captures,
over the course of eighteen months, the changing patterns of life
on Tory. It’s an intimate portrayal, exploring the lives of the islanders, their character and community. Oileán Thoraí is an hour-long documentary film which blends striking landscape photography with intimate contemporary interviews. It’s a fluid mix of past and present, history and contemporary life. It blends music and storytelling, art and song. This film explores the idea of spatiality, of isolation, of community and identity, the decline and continuation of tradition.
Dir: Pat Collins
Prod: Pat Collins
Ed: Gordon Bruic
DoP: Donal Gilligan, Colm Hogan, Richard Kendrick
Critical Comments:
"… a remarkable, somewhat elliptical portrait of contemporary island living ... a quiet, thoughtful and strangely haunting cinematic essay…” ‘The Irish Times’
“Oileán Thoraí …is an atmospheric and beautifully photographed study of landscape, time, culture and change on that remote and weather beaten island. Its particular characters who stay or come and go are given space to tell their own stories with integrity in a canvas that is as poetic as it is penetrating...” Celtic Film Festival Jury
Awards:
Best Documentary - Irish Film and Television Awards 2003
Oileán Thoraí has screened in cinemas in Bulgaria, Slovenia, Malta, Latvia, Estonia Czech Republic and Poland and was part of the official programme of Cultural Irlandais in 2005.
- top
John McGahern - A Private World
Hummingbird Productions / Harvest Films, 2005 52 mins
DVD €30.00 incl. Postage & Packing
On March 30th 2006, after a life-time of dedication to his art, John McGahern, one of Ireland's most distinguished writers, sadly passed away after a long illness. Since the publication of his first book in 1963, John McGahern was at the cultural heart of Irish life. He was in the happy position of being universally praised by the critics and equally loved by the reading public. John McGahern:A Private World was filmed in 2004 just prior to the publication of his memoirs and these memoirs formthe backbone of the documentary. Through intimate interviews, a strong and compelling sense of the man emerges, offering a rare insight into the creative process.
Dir: Pat Collins
Prod: Philip King
Ed: Isobel Stephenson
DoP: Donal Gilligan
Sound: Eamon Little
Awards:
Best Documentary: Irish Film & Television Awards 2005
Best Arts Documentary: Celtic Film Festival 2006
Gold Medallion Winners: Cinegael Buffalo 2006
Critical Comments:
“… an astonishing documentary… an illumination. The countryside, the characters, the runes of the land and its people have metamorphosed from the page to the television screen…” Harry McGee, ‘The Irish Examiner’
“…A triumph … this was a superb documentary…” Dermot Bolger, ‘The Village’
John McGahern, A Private World has been selected as part of the Reel Ireland 2006 touring selection of Irish film.
- top
Cathair Corcaigh
Harvest Films, 2005 52 mins
DVD €30.00 incl. Postage & Packing
Cathair Chorcaí explores the city’s physical and spiritual characteristics and it story is told by people such as Sr. Miriam of the The Poor Clares. sweetmaker Danny Lenihan and Morty McCarthy of The Sultans of Ping. Through various characters we hear both personal stories of life lived in the city and also the background that has shaped the city we see today. It explores the Lee and how it interacts with the city, the impact of the docks and centuries of trade and the impact of the English and Gaelic worlds on its development.
Cathair Chorcaí. is also a contemporary film and photography plays a central role. Man’s interaction with the streets, steep hills and narrow lanes is captured in a visually rich and fresh way.
Dir & Prod: Pat Collins
Ed: Gordon Bruic
Sound: John Brennan
DoP: Colm Hogan
- top