Her Song

Astonishingly beautiful and heart-rendingly poignant, Her Song is not the usual animated short that we feature on Kuriositas.  A young girl visits her grandmother and over a cup of tea their conversation leads to a revelation – a secret never to be told, as it were.  Exquisitely animated, this extraordinary piece of art harkens back to a somewhat bleak time in Irish history (not so long ago) when unmarried pregnant women were forced into Mother and Baby homes, often with tragic results.

Directed by Éabha Bortolozzo and Jack Kirwan, Her Song was produced by Greg Connolly with Radii Animation and features performances by Brenda Fricker and Nicola Coughlan. The film’s evocative atmosphere is enriched by an original music composition from Matilda O'Mahony and Rachel O'Grady.  If you are not often taken aback by something, give this award winning animation a go.

Watch Her Song below.

Dublin Time Lapse

Take a look at the Fair City in a different way. This time lapse by Richard Twomey (his first, believe it or not) captures the capital of Ireland beautifully.

The feeling of depth in many of the shots such as via clouds and stationary objects in the city shots paired with the camera movement is wonderful.

Although this will entrance you if you live in Ireland perhaps it is only fitting that we dedicate this to the Irish diaspora.

Wherever you are in the world I think this may fill you with homesickness.

23 Degrees 5 Minutes, Starring John Hurt and Stuart Townsend

An explorer becomes lost in the wastes of the Arctic and realizes that he will soon die. He recounts the events of twenty five years before, the events which had led him, inexorably through the years, to this point. As he begins to perish from the cold he remembers his student days at Trinity College in Dublin, studying under the mysterious and inscrutable Professor Orit who had been driven to the point of borderline insanity by his life’s preoccupation – the pursuit of the unified theory…

Directed by Darragh O'Connell, featuring the voice talents of John Hurt (who will be starring in the 50th anniversary Doctor Who episode in November) and Stuart Townsend and produced by Colm Tyrrell, the film was scripted by Darragh O'Connell based on a short story by Austin Kenny. Nominated for an IFTA in 2012, '23 Degrees 5 Minutes' was funded under the Frameworks scheme from the Irish Film Board, RTE and the Arts Council of Ireland.  There is also a very cool blog which describes how the film was made.

Origin

This didn’t make it online in time for the recent St Patrick’s Day celebrations (which would have been the ideal date to share this with you) but here it is nonetheless.  Origin tells the (visually metaphorical) tale of a young man, who due to Ireland’s straightened circumstances, has decided to leave the country in search of pastures new.  Yet when he realizes at the airport that his passport is still in his flat the dash back to retrieve it stirs an ancient spirit within him.

Created under the marvelous Short Shorts scheme funded by the Irish Film Board, Origin was scripted by Matthew Darragh and James Stacey, with an original score by Rónán Ó Snodaigh of Kíla. It was directed by James Stacey and produced by Sean Smith of Souljacker.

The Terms

A father and son live alone in the wilds of Ireland. We might call their small family unit dysfunctional in this day and age but perhaps that wouldn’t be putting too fine a point on it. The son has just burned down the family home and the father gives him the terms of his escape. A shotgun aimed in his direction, a head start and some money to make is way in the world: a chance to live, a chance to die. That is all he is offered but events do not transpire quite as either had anticipated.

The Terms is based on the short story by Irish writer Mike McCormack, starring Gary Lewis and Ciaran Flynn. It was written and directed by Jason LaMotte.  If the Irish brogue leaves you struggling to follow the action then you can see the short film with subtitles here.

10 Strange and Fun Facts About Ireland

With St Patrick’s Day coming up on 17 March, it is appropriate that we share with the world some fun and interesting facts about Ireland.