Film Ireland Podcast FilmIreland

Delving into this story with families at the core, in this Film Ireland podcast, Gemma Creagh talks to Gary Lennon, Director of Piano Dreams.

There are currently 40 million piano students in China. With many practising up to ten hours a day, pianomania has truly gripped the nation. We follow three young hopefuls and their dedicated families as they chase their dreams in the ultra-competitive world of piano education. This is both an intimate portrait of remarkably talented young musicians and a glimpse into the lives of the new Chinese middle class: their aspirations, their sacrifices and their sheer drive to succeed.

In cinemas 24th May 2024.

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Congratulations to Laura McGann and the team who worked on The Deepest Breath on their Emmy win! In this Film Ireland podcast, listen back as Gemma Creagh talks to Laura McGann about her powerful film.

The Deepest Breath follows champion freediver Alessia Zecchini, who fell in love with the sport as a child growing up in Italy, astounding coaches with her raw talent and determination in pool swims and open water contests before she was even old enough to legally compete. Irish adventurer turned expert safety diver Stephen Keenan, meanwhile, was raised near the sea, but as a young man he set out on a quest to find himself, traveling across Africa before landing in Dahab, Egypt and establishing a dive school. Despite their very different paths, the two would meet at the pinnacle of the competitive freediving world, discovering a shared passion for pushing their limits and forming a powerful relationship that felt like fate.

From Irish director Laura McGann, this thrilling documentary takes a look inside one of the most dangerous sports in the world, using everything from raw underwater dive footage to childhood home movies to chronicle Zecchini and Keenan’s lives and careers. The bond between them propels the film’s emotional journey into the stunning, silent depths of the ocean, a breathtaking place unseen by all but the fortunate few – where exhilarating accomplishments and unavoidable risks await.

The Deepest Breath is in cinemas from 14th July 2023 and is available to stream on Netflix now.

In this podcast, Gemma Creagh talks to Tanya Doyle, Director of 'Eat / Sleep / Cheer / Repeat'.

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Team captain, glamour queen Jessica; star athlete, Covid anti-vaxer Jayleesa; dyslexic, athletic Blathnaid; out-n-proud, fun-loving Dean; freedom-seeking Taylor; and lost boy Rickie are each searching for their place in the world through the sport they love.  As their anxiety-crippled coach, Hilton, battles to keep the team on track through a season of ill-discipline and injuries, we follow our underdog athletes’ journey to the World Championships in America.

This surprising and uplifting coming-of-age movie follows the young female…and male athletes of Team Ireland to intimately explore questions of gender, strength, performance, sexuality and what it’s like growing up in the world today.  Can Team Ireland reach their goal of top ten in the world, and can cheerleading give these athletes a space to find themselves?

From award-winning director Tanya Doyle (The House) with music by Stephen Rennicks & Hugh Drumm (Room, The Quiet Girl), Eat / Sleep / Cheer / Repeat is a feel-good documentary exploring the worlds of the young misfits finding a place where they belong.  Battling self-doubt while figuring out their place in the world, this is a story of athletes who don’t just want to stand out.  They want to fit in.

Eat/Sleep/Cheer/Repeat is in cinemas from 17th May 2024.

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In this podcast, Gemma Creagh talks to Simon Chambers, the Director of Screen Ireland supported documentary 'Much Ado About Dying.

Filmmaker Simon finds his life drastically interrupted when he is called back to London from India to care for his retired bohemian gay actor Uncle David. Everything that could go wrong does go wrong. David's anarchic spirit is unbreakable. He fights with Simon, refusing to go into a care home, insisting on dying in the squalor of his unheated tumble-down house. He can't remember where he put his false teeth but he still knows nearly all the lines from his beloved Shakespeare plays. David's real life starts to echo "King Lear", the play about an old man going mad and giving his kingdom away, as David starts giving away thousands of pounds to a hot sexy "helper". How do we deal with and care for our relatives who are living longer than ever? How does Simon help David to have a good death?

Much Ado About Dying is in cinemas from 10th May2024.
The special event screenings taking place are the following


Irish Film Institute, Dublin - Q&A 10th May
Palás Cinema, Galway - Q&A 11th May
Lighthouse Cinema, Dublin - Q&A 12th May
Omniplex Limerick - Q&A 13th May
Omniplex Cork - Q&A 14th May
Omniplex Rathmines, Dublin - Q&A 17th May
Omniplex Belfast - Q&A 18th May
Queens Film Theatre, Belfast - Q&A 19th May
Century Cinema, Letterkenny - Q&A 19th May
Omniplex Derry - Q&A 20th May

In this Film Ireland podcast, Gemma Creagh welcomes back Andrew Baird to talk about his latest film, Sunrise. Then we hear from Director Michael Showalter about his Rom Com The Idea of You.

When a former cop named Fallon returns to the scene of a horrific crime, the residents of a rural town discover the dark visitor is really a vampire who feeds on blood and fear. Befriended by a kind immigrant family, the instinctive killer soon faces a choice of revenge or redemption.

Sunrise was directed by Andrew Baird from a script by Academy Award-nominated screenwriter Ronan Blaney, and stars Guy Pearce and Alex Pettyfer.

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In this Japanese Film Festival Roundtable, Gemma Creagh talks to Andrew Partridge, founder of Anime Limited, Emmy Shigeta, a Japanese DJ working in the industry in Ireland, and Stephen McNeice, co-programmer of the Japanese Film Festival Ireland.

https://www.jff.ie/

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The Japanese Film Festival Ireland is organised by access CINEMA & The Embassy of Japan.