Navan director's film screening at Galway Fleadh

Sinead O’Shea was recently named by Screen International as one of 10 European female filmmakers to watch out for.

Sydney Film Festival and EFP’s Europe! Voices of Women in Film programme showcased the work of ten rising European women directors, including the Navan native whose 'A Mother Brings Her Son to Be Shot' is being screened at the Galway Film Fleadh this week.

Before making her feature documentary debut with A Mother Brings Her Son To Be Shot, Sinead O’Shea won an Irish Media Justice Award and an Irish Film and Television Award. She has worked as a journalist for RTE, the BBC, The Irish Times, The Guardian, The New York Times, Channel 4 and Al Jazeera, and has 60-minute documentary The McCanns Versus The Media on her CV.

O’Shea studied film production at Dublin Institute of Technology, specialising in cinematography, but “the film industry was very challenging when I began in Ireland”, she recalls. “It was a big advantage to be able to shoot and edit myself, though,” which helped her find work in current affairs. She is now making a short drama called Humblebrag, and developing her first fiction feature, Female Terrorist.

A Mother Brings Her Son to Be Shot

One night Majella O’Donnell took her teenage son Philly to be shot in both legs. Majella, Philly, and his shooters all live within an extraordinary community in Derry, Northern Ireland. “The Troubles” officially ended in 1998, but this community is still at war. They do not accept the government or police; all this happens within the jurisdiction of the United Kingdom.

How do you bring your son to be shot? What happens afterwards? How does family life continue? How does a community respond? When do wars really end?

For five years O’Shea has filmed this shocking but unexpectedly humorous portrait of a post-conflict society. 
The Oscar winning filmmaker Joshua Oppenheimer (Act of Killing) is the executive producer.

Official Selection: London Film Festival, CPH: DOX, Copenhagen, Glasgow Film Festival, Belfast Film Festival European Film Festival, Sydney Film Festival, New Zealand Film Festival, EBS International Documentary Film Festival, Korea

Award Nominations: FACT Award, CPH:DOX, Copenhagen, Maysles Observational Documentary Award, Belfast, Festival Choice Award, EBS Korea.

 

Galway Film Fleadh

A Mother Brings Her Son to Be Shot
Sat 14 July / Pálás Screen 1 / 18:30
Tickets €10  Concession €9