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sherlollyliveson18 · 2 years

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Headcanons for the Derry Girls Halloween Episode:

. The gang end up going to the Fatboy Slim concert while the adults are at a costume party hosted by Janette Joyce, who's attempting to repair her friendship with Mary and the girls (baby Anna is in the care of a babysitter).

. Everyone is positively buzzing for the concert - well, mostly. This is the first time James and Erin after the Donegal kiss, and like most teens would be, they're feeling confused as hell and kind of down in the dumps that they most likely can't be together. Erin being Erin is determined to just shove her feelings down inside and enjoy the concert.

. We all know the gang are dressed as angels for the concert but I think the adults' costumes would be really fun. Gerry gets roped into being part of a group ABBA costume with Mary, Sarah and Ciaran and Granda Joe tries to incorporate Seamus into his but is stopped by Mary's insistence that he can't bring a cat with murderous tendencies to a Halloween party.

. Mary finally gets to hoke inside the Joyce's house and cannot believe her eyes at the eight bedrooms with en-suites. The sheer size of the kitchen makes her catch her breath.

. It's hinted that Granda Joe has a heart attack in this episode and while it's obviously a very serious thing, I think the setup could be really funny. For example, Ciaran and Sarah have been going steady for about a year now, so what if he decides to take the leap at this party and propose? And at the exact moment he does and he and Sarah and everyone else is celebrating, Granda Joe clutches his chest and collapses. Luckily Janette's husband Richard is able to give him something from his medical bag while the ambulance is called and Gerry is sent out to find the girls.

. Back at the concert things are not going great for Erin. She's trying to enjoy herself but just can't get that kiss out of her head. The rest of the girls are having the time of their lives (and I'll think we'll see Claire meet a love interest!) and suddenly she sees James across the room chatting with a girl. They go off to dance and something just snaps in Erin and she storms out on the verge of tears. As we've seen from the photos James follows her and they have an argument - Erin says she knows she said they couldn't be together but not because she doesn't feel the same way, because of what Michelle said and the repercussions it could have and maybe if they weren't in Derry it would be different and James clearly feels the same but because of their situation they're sort of in an impossible situation.

And Erin is about to say something else when they get interrupted by Gerry in full ABBA attire racing down the hallway towards them, and he fills them in on what's happened to Joe and they have to gather the rest of the gang and get to the hospital.

. When they arrive everyone's a mess. Poor Ciaran is sitting in the waiting room with Sarah patting his shoulder while he's having hysterics about accidentally killing his future father-in-law and Mary's pacing up and down the room with a death grip on her rosary. Orla (who I'm 100% certain is autistic) is quickly overwhelmed by the confusing scene and has to be comforted by the girls. They spend two full hours waiting in agonising silence, all the while Erin's thoughts being bombarded with horrible possibilities and outcomes and she can't face losing her grandad so she just gets up and walks away as fast as she can. She doesn't even know where's she going until she hears James calling out behind her, having followed her to make sure she's okay and she wants to tell him to go away, that she can't deal with their shit on top of all of this but instead she just... crumbles. She cries harder than she ever has before and James just immediately pulls her into a hug and comforts her while she lets its all out. And when she's finally done she just looks up at him and says she can't wait. She doesn't want to after what's just happening, life's too fucking short, and grabs his face and they kiss in the empty hallway.

. Meanwhile, the doctor finally comes out and informs everyone that it turns out Ciaran did not in fact accidentally kill Joe, but that Joe has a genetic disease that causes clogged arteries combined with the fact that he ate too many cheese cubes at the party. He also tells them Joe will be waking up in a few minutes and they're welcome to sit in his room until then. Ciaran nearly sobs with relief before realising with a degree of horror that now Joe's not dead, he may very well kill him for proposing to Sarah😅

. Mary goes off to find Gerry, who's getting tea for everyone and missed the news that Joe's stable. After navigating the maze of corridors and rooms she goes through a door and to her surprise finds her husband, standing still as a statue, peering round the corner and into a hallway. She approaches him to tell him the news but is quickly shushed by a shocked Gerry, who responds to her bewildered look by just pointing down the hall to the figures of their daughter and the wee English fella wrapped in each other's arms and kissing passionately.

. For a good minute neither of them know what to say, until Gerry remarks that maybe they should give them a few minutes before breaking the news about Joe. They attempt to make a sneaky exit and tiptoe away but Gerry accidentally stubs his foot on a bin and manages to knock the entire thing over with a very loud clang in perfect Derry Girls comedic timing, which alerts Erin and James to their presence. Erin is just about up to here with people walking in on her and James shifting and just shouts,

"For God's sake, is there no such thing as privacy?!"

To which Mary retorts that they're in a public hospital. Meanwhile Gerry's brain has gone completely blank, still shocked by the image of his daughter snogging the face off James fecking Maguire, so he just does the first thing that comes to mind, grabs James's hand and starts shaking it vigorously. And James and Erin can only stare at him in absolute confusion until Mary yanks his hand away and asks what the hell he's doing, to which he responds he just panicked😅 She rolls her eyes at her eejit husband and says they'll discuss whatever the feck's happening between James and Erin later, and marches the trio back to Granda Joe's room.

. Granda Joe is now awake but absolutely flying on the morphine. He's convinced he's in heaven due to the fact that five angels appear to have congregated around his bed, and keeps asking if God would allow him to bring Seamus the cat with him to eternity. That is, until Gerry enters the room and he remarks that this must be some strange version of hell. Michelle nearly chokes trying to keep her laughter in. Ciaran keeps hovering nervously by the edge of the room until Joe nods towards him and says to Sarah that her fella's a disaster at proposing but if he makes her happy he supposes he can learn to tolerate him.

. That's all I've got! Feel free to add to this and comment your feedback:)

#derry girls headcanons #jerin derry girls #derry girls #derry girls season 3 #jerin #james x erin #james x erin headcanons #granda joe #gerry quinn #mary quinn #erin quinn

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sothischickshe · 1 year

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OMG did you finally watch Derry Girls???!! 😱😱😍😍😭😭👀👀💖💖🙈🙈💜💜💞💞💕💕

What did you think? Did you love it? Did you??? Tell me EVERYTHING 😘😘😘😘

Hey sweetie! I hope you're doing well 😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘

& yes, I did finally watch derry girls!

I did end up loving it actually, though it was a bit of a slow burn for me! I warmed fast to the characters/tone/setting/comedic style etc, but it felt like the (earlier) eps had a habit of ending just as they were getting interesting??? Idk, maybe it's partly personal preference or expectations, but they often felt v cliffhangery, only without being picked up ever again??

Classic example would be the first ep where everyone's accusing the girls of killing the old nun, which just kinda ends & I don't think that's ever mentioned subsequently? see also: stowaway jumps into the next car's boot WITH the tent James has been put in charge of in hand, or the hash scones are about to be eaten by the whole family (an extremely egregious example to me haha, you can't tease an everybody must get stoned conclusion and not demonstrate it! 😢), or even Erin writing 'parents' on the board a smile is shared...run credits.

I don't even like plot ha, and I'm def into it just meandering along in the bg while the focus is on the characters, & maybe these endings were supposed to emphasise that vibe, but I don't think it quite worked for me. Contrast with say the ending of the take that concert ep which feels like an ep ending!! <3

I do think the eps mightve benefited from being a little longer (or perhaps the writing mightve benefited from knowing how to write to that length ♻️) generally, & the s1 finale in particular was kinda dampened for me bc I don't think the resolution to the clare-Erin fight feels entirely earned? I totally respect the show choosing to not make Clare's sexuality a source of dramz (& the fact that it won't be amongst their milieu is kinda foreshadowed by everyone's disappointment @ everyone else re their supposed homophobia twds James), but I think this ep needed a liiiiiiil more space for the topic considering how dismissive erin is to clare immediately. (plus, doesn't erin kinda out clare to others eg Mary in discussing this...?)

I feel like the writing got a lot more intricate as the show went on tho! 🤩 eg I remember being struck by the haunt-y ep where James gets hit by the van & clare panics at all the plant pots & throws a rock through the window -- which seem like classic highjinks... And they are, but also they're respectively: a reason the girls are frazzled so end up inadvertently breaking into the wrong place, & a sign they're at the wrong house (the instruction to find the key under 'the' plant pot initially seeming humorous, but actually being a well hidden Reveal). Or ciaran assuming Sarah's broken it off with him to become a nun in the hallowe'en ep?? Impeccable!! Or how the storylines in the train ep (backpacks switcheroo; Mary and sarah running into an acquaintance they can't place) neatly dovetail. The third season really impressed me overall, and particularly that final lengthy special!!!

So I do think my experience of watching this show is strong evidence for my theory that waiting for the whole thing to be out and watching all in one go can be the best way!! Like yes you do miss out on the live fandom screeching experience & can easily run the risk of being spoiled but I got to watch the writing improve in this compressed fashion!! Plus there were certain things where I was reserving judgement to see how they were handled going fwds, and s3 (so good!!) really delivered! Eg clare getting a love interest, michelle/'s family backstory, some discussion from Clare's parents re her sexuality, the girls developing better music taste lol, a bit more interrogation of Mary & gerry's relationship.

As u know I'm a bit of a hard sell on media/stories abt young ppl (to start with there's way too much!), but I really like the tone & setting of the show -- the sort of black comedy vibe, the 90s nostalgia -- and def enjoyed how much the grown ups were present too!! The performance of Tommy tiernan as gerry in particular really stood out to me, he didn't always get many lines, and often the ones he had were quite clipped, but the acting gave it a lot of depth. Plus I love that the mums got their own flashback ep!

I think the erin/James romance was foreshadowed really well + had the exact right amount of focus (ie not a huge amount) + was resolved exactly the right amount (ie fairly implied but open ended); he was an aspiring filmmaker she was an aspiring writer can I make it any more obvious should be more of a trope too sffgddfg. I feel like a lot of shows abt teenagers are either aggressively puritanical abt sex or substances or w/e, or lean hard the other way and instead try to glam up & sexualise boring children, and this did neither! The fact that it didn't focus almost exclusively on romantic pining and/or relationships or get into the partner shuffle game was really refreshing for a ~teen show, & I love that the focus stayed on the group/dynamic.

Other thoughts: Sister George Michael extremely iconic obvi! I really enjoyed James as a device (ppl needing to explain the ~setting to him), I think more shows should do that (espec in place of bloody voiceovers, way too many of those these days, so I loved the lampshading of that trope too); his deployment in the funeral ep (english ppl vs acknowledging the concept of death) really sung for me! And I lovvvve how uncle colm was used (espec in s3)!! I generally really like how Sarah & orla were portrayed/treated by the show also. And the music was done v well -- both in terms of songs chosen and how they were used! Some very iconic guest stars too, although omg i didn't even recognise ardal o'hanlon which is WILD given I slogged through a fair amount of my hero for him back in the day 😅

Anyhow yes I did love it, excellent rec, and I think it would be fun to rewatch. I'd be curious to hear/read more abt the writing actually, and particularly re when character details were decided (eg Michelle's brother backstory) cos stuff generally did seem to hang together well overall 😊

....ok, that enough thoughts for ya? 😆

#Derry girls #TV #Is “the eps are too short” a barely more sophisticated version of “the seasons are too short”?....mayhaps! 😅🤷🏼‍♀️#But I do feel like the writing got noticeably better as the show went on... Which isn't strange tbf!#Something

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getthesamovarready · 2 years

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There was soooo much happening in this episode

Sarah getting flustered and not really wanting to explain when she realises that she misunderstood what Ciaran was saying. And then trying to derail the conversation by talking about what she knows.

Erin and Orla blackmailing both their parents.

The entire group getting behind trying to set clare up with the only other queer girl they know of

Is it just me or are they all wearing more rainbow than they used to? I swear before it was one pin each and clare had 2.

Sarah's Halloween pyjamas

Stacking the wains in the backseat like plasterboard. Obsessed with the fact that all the adults understood this.

Sarah explaining the importance of the group costume

You couldn't have a show about derry without at least one Halloween episode really

Gerry being made to break the news to ciaran like a protective big brother, trying to explain in the nicest way he knows how that Sarah isn't exactly the first to understand a situation, but failing because she frustrates him. Joe biting back not because its Gerry jut because he adores Sarah in every way and there's a total difference in his tone.

The nun costumes. "Goodby Ciaran, and God Bless." Unbelievable

When they get kicked out they literally do not care about missing the concert, they only care about eachother, they fought for James and when they get outside the absolute most important thing is Clare's first kiss.

Michelle knowing the most about aneurysms because her mother is a nurse.

Orla insisting he'll be okay even though she obviously knows that he won't.

The girls holding Clare up and then Sarah and Mary holding Geraldine up after previous episode just makes me feel so much

#derry girls #derry girls spoilers

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intheirsandbox · 2 years

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Last night's Derry Girls was 🤣😂🥰😢😭

Sister Michael, Aunt Sarah and Ciaran, the nuns' outfits, Gerry trying to explain Sarah to Ciaran 😂

Clare and Laurie 🥰

And then Gerry answered the phone and just asked, "When?" 😔

#derry girls #derry girls spoilers #very slight spoilers #i need a link now so i can gif #i really need to gif the adults in all of series 3 #this has been the best series #one more episode

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realbacchus · 2 years

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The thing about Derry Girls is that it has a character named Ciaran, pronounced correctly and spelled correctly... Literally it's so refreshing good god

#my brothers name is ciaran and not even our Catholic school got it right....

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romanceromp · 3 years

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This is the same man, and my mind is blown.

#bridgerton #derry girls #wee dockets #small glasses #nigel berbrooke #ciaran #jamie beamish

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brian-in-finance · 2 years

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NADINE COYLE AND JAMIE DORNAN TIPPED TO STAR IN DERRY GIRLS MOVIE

Although the current third season of the hit sitcom will be the last, show creator Lisa McGee has previously teased the possibility of the Derry Girls moving to the big screen.

Following the shock guest appearance of Liam Neeson in the final season’s premiere episode, fans have been speculating on potential stars to be cast in the film.

Belfast movie heartthrob and county Down native Jamie Dornan leads the charge at 4/1, while Line of Duty’s Adrian Dunbar is at odds of 5/1 to appear in a future film.

Other Northern Irish actors in the mix include Ciaran Hinds at 6/1, and James Nesbitt at 8/1.

Girls Aloud songstress and Derry native Nadine Coyle has been chalked up at 12/1 to make an appearance.

The bookmaker has also seen some interest in Dubliner’s Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson making an appearance in a future Derry Girls Movie. Gleeson is currently at 6/1 and Farrell is at 16/1.

Nicola McGeady of Ladbrokes said: “Fans can’t get enough of Derry Girls since the final season hit our screens last week, and if this recent run of money is anything to go by, we could be seeing the Derry Girls alongside Hollywood and Pop Royalty on the big screen not before long!”

Season 3 of Derry Girls continues next Tuesday at 9.15pm on Channel 4.

https://goss.ie/showbiz/nadine-coyle-and-jamie-dornan-tipped-to-star-in-derry-girls-movie-293419

Remember… (it’s all fan speculation) People who count their chickens before they are hatched act very wisely because chickens run about so absurdly that it's impossible to count them accurately. — Oscar Wilde

#Tait rhymes with hat #Good times #Derry Girls film #Speculation #Goss IE #21 April 2022

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silverhallow · 2 years

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I've recently been dabbling with the idea of Aoife Hinds as Sophie. I don't know if you've seen Normal People but she played Connell's girlfriend in that and she also played a bully in Derry Girls with Nicola. She seems to get cast in roles that are more on the negative side but I bet she could nail Sophie. Plus her father's an Irish acting legend! Not saying Sophie has to be irish, i'm sure Aoife is capable of the upper class accent that is too posh for a servant vibe that everyone picks up on

I can see it!

However I didn’t realise her father Ciaran Hinds!!!

#possible Sophie Beckett #fancasts #bridgerton #sophie beckett #ash’s ask #ash’s asks and answers #ask ash

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incorrect-derry-girls · 2 years

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ciaran, trying to impress sarah: i once starred in a production of les mis.

ciaran: i was les.

joe, listening in: and i'm sure everyone else was miserable.

#source: ant farm #derry girls #derry girls incorrect quotes #incorrect quotes #ciaran #joe mccool #sarah mccool

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dykedteach · 4 years

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just found out that Mae from Derry Girls (goes to prom with Clare) is ciaran hinds’ daughter???

#did anyone else know this or was i just meant to find this out while looking up how old he was in rome myself

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belfasttimes · 6 years

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Arts Over Borders celebrates Beckett and Friel this August

Arts Over Borders presents an unprecedented line-up of film, TV and stage actors across two festivals including Maxine Peake, Imogen Stubbs, Tamsin Greig, Rory Kinnear, Natascha McElhone, Alex Jennings, Frances Barber, Ian McElhinney, cast members of ‘Derry Girls’, Adrian Dunbar, Ciaran McMenamin, Colin Salmon, Sean McGinley and Patrick…

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#art over borders #Northern Ireland #what&039;s on

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londontheatre · 7 years

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Paul Kennedy – Padraig Devlin

Former Taoiseach of Ireland Bertie Ahern recently rejected a suggestion that the country would follow the UK out of the European Union saying “We’re mad, but we’re not that mad”. It was a wonderfully funny and typically self-deprecating Irish remark! There has always been a hint of madness about many of the Irish that makes them, in turn, enchanting and terrifying. Gerry Moynihan’s brilliant new play Continuity gets to the heart of this paradox. Paul Kennedy’s portrayal of the only character Padraig Devlin is sympathetic and engaging with humour and pathos co-existing with terror. He is a sensitive man who loves and frolics with passion – he is also an active member of a “Continuity IRA” terrorist cell.

To those of us who haven’t caught up with developments on the Republican side in Northern Ireland in recent years, and who assumed that the era of peace and cooperation which followed the Good Friday agreement still existed, this play will come as a shock. The Continuity Republicans, as Devlin puts it, are involved in a “Reaffirmation of the struggle and are not selling out”. We are in Derry in 2017 where Devlin and his friends Joe and Eamon are planning bomb attacks – they see themselves as the “Inheritors of the goals of the men of 1914”. The enemy is the British occupiers of the North but also the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI). And anyone who has contact with the PSNI is a traitor. “Justice” is swift on those who won’t toe the line of republicanism. One unfortunate had his legs broken for being a drug dealer but worst was to befall Padraig’s sister. She is seen to be a PSNI informer and for this, she is brutally murdered by Joe and Eamon who turn to Padraig and say “Nothing personal Padraig, it’s political”.

The back story is that Eamon’s father had a generation ago been executed by Padraig’s IRA man father for some disloyalty to the cause. There is an undercurrent of revenge here. At the funeral and wake Padraig’s mother breaks down – as well she might. “My only daughter. My beautiful wee girl.” Her killers are present and paying their respects – that madness which separates the personal from the political is ever present. It is present also in Padraig’s relationship with a young Spanish girl Jorja. He spots her coming into a bar where she seems a “happy chick” and they soon become serious. Jorja wants Padraig to join her in Barcelona but he says “People like me don’t run away” – “which way is the heart?” he asks. Well, the answer seems to be that the heart is with the cause – “It’s in the blood”.

The “Continuity IRA” is a small, extreme group and the effects of its activities are small at the moment – but not to be ignored. We have just seen the case of the British Royal Marine Ciaran Maxwell who has been jailed for 18 years for helping the Continuity IRA by stashing explosives and ammunition ahead of a terror campaign. In Continuity Gerry Moynihan shows us that although the wide scale terrorism of the years of the “troubles” has gone there are still pockets of violent nationalism at work in Ireland. But this is not a documentary play – it is very human. Although we only see one character, Padraig, those people he describes become quite real to us over the course of the 75 minutes of the play. The story reaches its inevitable conclusion at the end – suffice to say here that the last words spoken are “It’s not political, it’s personal”. Irish republicanism is described as the snake that kills itself in order to keep itself alive. A depressing thought but a hundred years on who is to argue? As with any struggle which overspills into violence many if not all of the victims are innocent. The circle of violence seems incapable of being broken and the voices calling for peace or asking that there is a “turning of the other cheek” are often overwhelmed by the louder voices calling for revenge – and “freedom”. Moynihan’s play is not presenting any political case nor is it preaching solutions. He lets his intelligent, engaging, vulnerable and articulate creation Padraig Devlin tell the story in his own language with his own emotions.

Paul Kennedy’s fine performance brings Devlin to life and notwithstanding what he is (a killer, not to put too fine a point on it) we cannot but like him. Which in itself perhaps makes us ask ourselves some questions as well.

Review by Paddy Briggs

“The whole game seems tae have changed… or maybe it isn’t so much that they have changed. Maybe it’s just that I’m startin’ tae see things in a different light?.”

Pádraig Devlin is a dissident Irish Republican, who begins to have doubts about his commitment to The Cause after he meets and falls in love with a woman from Barcelona. Soon after meeting her, Pádraig botches three assignments in a row. The other members of his terrorist cell decide to test the love-struck Pádraig’s commitment. Has falling in love really weakened the resolve of a man determined to re-ignite the struggle for Irish freedom, and whose Republican credentials are beyond reproach? And just exactly what kind of test do they plan to set him? And how will Pádraig react when he discovers that he’s being tested…

Continuity is the story of a man who begins to question everything he has ever fought for – and marks a stunning debut from a brand new playwright.

Paul Kennedy – Padraig Devlin Directed by Shane Dempsey Designed by May Jennifer Davies Lighting by Steven Owen Sound by Anna Clock Movement by Steffany George Presented by Mark Stuart Flynn in association with Neil McPherson for the Finborough Theatre.

http://ift.tt/NsSQwL

http://ift.tt/2whthuP LondonTheatre1.com

#IFTTT #LondonTheatre1.com

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brian-in-finance · 2 years

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Northern Ireland’s film and TV industry is going from strength to strength, with Netflix and Paramount among the latest US studios to bring projects to the region.

Lewis McAskie, Caitriona Balfe, Kenneth Branagh, Jamie Dornan and Ciaran Hinds with Jude Hill in front as they attend the Irish premiere of film Belfast at the Waterfront Hall, Belfast, to mark the opening night of the Belfast Film Festival

While Line Of Duty and Bloodlands were some of the highlights of 2021, Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast and the third and final season of Derry Girls are already sparking excitement for 2022.

National agency Northern Ireland Screen also listed successes in animation, games and interactive content despite the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic.

Belfast Harbour Studios became home to the streaming giant Netflix in 2021, while Titanic Studios was occupied by Paramount Pictures, attracting A-list celebrities for filming The School For Good And Evil and Dungeons And Dragons.

Epic Viking saga The Northman, filmed at Belfast Harbour Studios at the end of 2020, is set for cinema release in April 2022.

Meanwhile, Belfast, which had its Irish premiere in the city in November, has been nominated for seven Golden Globes and 11 Critics Choice Awards. It opens in cinemas on January 21.

Among the highlights on the small screen in 2021 was the third series of the crime drama Marcella, starring Anna Friel, while Sunday evenings were dominated by the drama Bloodlands, featuring James Nesbitt.

Bloodlands became the BBC’s biggest new drama launch since June 2020 with an average 8.2 million viewers, and in Northern Ireland the first episode had a 52% consolidated audience share, making it the highest-rating BBC drama to launch locally on record. The second series is set to be filmed in early 2022.

Line Of Duty returned for its sixth series and scored a ratings record, with 12.8 million viewers tuning in for the final episode to find out the identity of the mysterious H. It won the Returning Drama and Special Recognition Awards at this year’s National TV Awards.

Comedy series Frank Of Ireland, starring brothers Brian and Domhnall Gleeson, was shown on Channel 4 in April, while The Windermere Children, based on a true story in 1945 when hundreds of child survivors of the concentration camps were taken to the Lake District to recuperate, was nominated for the Single Drama Award at the Bafta TV Awards and also for Best Single Drama at the Broadcast Awards.

More recently, Dalgliesh, starring Bertie Carvel as Inspector Adam Dalgliesh, aired on Channel 5, showcasing locations across Northern Ireland, including Strangford, Armagh, Islandmagee and Ballyclare, among others.

The Co Down town of Donaghadee is also enjoying time in the spotlight thanks to new police drama Hope Street, which is currently airing on BBC One Northern Ireland before going UK-wide in 2022 and US-bound on Britbox.

Another police drama, Blue Lights, is in the pipeline, inspired by the experiences of serving police officers in Northern Ireland.

For younger viewers, Sixteen South’s Odo, a pre-school programme that follows the adventures of an owl, aired on Channel 5’s Milkshake! in the UK and on HBO Max in the US, and has been nominated for Best Pre-School Programme at the 2022 Broadcast Awards.

Northern Ireland’s games and interactive sector also continues to thrive.

Highlights included Out Of Tune Games launching its first game, Crooks Like Us, where players get to steal everything they see, and Blackstaff Games’ Buildings Have Feelings Too!, a city-management puzzle game.

Meanwhile, the Irish Language Broadcast Fund (ILBF) supported content including Sonas Productions’ Iarnrod Enda for RTE One, a series about abandoned railway routes presented by former taoiseach Enda Kenny.

Northern Ireland Screen’s Ulster-Scots Broadcast Fund (USBF) also continued to support a range of content, including chef Paula McIntyre’s Hamely Kitchen.

Throughout 2021, Northern Ireland Screen supported 344 individuals through various initiatives, including helping crew members step up to a higher grade, and Screen Academies provided opportunities for young people in animation, VFX and gaming.

Remember… the television and film industry in Northern Ireland remains busy, despite the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic.

#Tait rhymes with hat #Good times #BelfastMovie #Newsletter #30 December 2021 #Belfast #Now in North America #Last day I need to type that #Worldwide in 2022

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brian-in-finance · 2 years

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‘It’s real tear-jerker’: People of Belfast city give Branagh’s passion project the seal of approval

Sir Kenneth Branagh’s new film underwent its most important test last night when the people of Belfast gave their opinions after it went on general release.

Hundreds gathered for the Belfast Telegraph’s screening of the film, which had a glitzy premiere at the Waterfront in the city last year.

The labour of love, which details the love, laughter and losses of the director’s early years, has been generating no small amount of awards buzz.

It is set in the 1960s and focuses on the tumult that characterised that time and changed the course of history.

The film has received many rave reviews from the critics, but Sir Ken has always said he wanted it to be loved by the people of Belfast.

Cherith Greer called it “surprisingly funny”. “It was endearing. I loved Jamie Dornan singing Everlasting Love. It’s hard to say if it’s a true representation of Belfast because I wasn’t alive at the time, but the language was right,” she said.

Jane Purdy added: “It was a real tear-jerker. There were so many moments that made me emotional. It really brought the past to life. I’d definitely bring my parents to see it.”

Belfast Telegraph business editor Margaret Canning said: “I think it was a great film and a landmark in depictions of Belfast and the Troubles on screen.

“It vividly showed how rioting at the start of the Troubles landed right on the doorsteps of families in Belfast.

“The performances really made the film, especially Caitriona Balfe as Ma. She was the heart of the film. I really hope she gets the recognition she deserves for it.”

It stars Jamie Dornan as Pa, Caitriona Balfe as Ma, Ciaran Hinds as Pop, Judi Dench as Granny and young stars Jude Hill and Lewis McAskie as Buddy and Will respectively.

Belfast won the best screenplay award at the Golden Globes earlier this month.

It has also been tipped for Oscars glory.

Pam and Peter Graham. Credit: Stephen Hamilton

https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/entertainment/film-tv/its-real-tear-jerker-people-of-belfast-city-give-branaghs-passion-project-the-seal-of-approval-41263065.html

Belfast review: Kenneth Branagh finds happiness amid a conflicted city

Given that Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast film is set against the backdrop of the Troubles you could be forgiven for expecting it to be more gritty and explosive.

Instead Branagh, whose family left north Belfast in 1969 to escape the conflict, has stuck to his own happy memories of the city where he spent the first nine years of his life.

Branagh’s story is told through Buddy, played by Jude Hill – a young lad who looks forward to trips to the cinema, likes spending time philosophising with his granddad, and who needs to work out a way to get the attention of the smartest girl in his class who he has a crush on.

What Branagh’s memories of his place of birth give the audience is a wholesome story of a family overcoming their struggles, which do become all the more difficult because of the violence which has arrived on their doorstep.

The film starts with the jollity of a tight-knit terraced neighbourhood being shattered by a riot intended to intimidate Catholics into moving out.

Given the starting point, the threat of violence looms large for the entire film but it is not a well which Branagh taps too often. Instead he celebrates togetherness rather than division, helped by a stand-out cast including Ciaran Hinds, Judi Dench, Caitriona Balfe and Jamie Dornan.

There are bits of dialogue reminiscent of the Derry Girls scene listing the differences between the two religions that bring a chuckle.

For example when Buddy, who doesn’t want to go to church, points out: “But Daddy if we were Catholics we could not go to church, then every once in a wee while we could do it and confess. And then they’d have to tell us we were forgiven and we wouldn’t have to go in again for ages.”

The film does have a certain feel-good factor which belies its backdrop.

Ultimately, it could mean that Branagh’s heartwarming story, aided by an uplifting soundtrack from Belfast’s own Van Morrison, is better received internationally rather than locally, where we’ve grown accustomed to expecting the worst to happen.

Whether you’re watching the film in Belfast, Beirut or Boston it is hard to find fault in the film’s visual integrity – its wonderful black and white imagery is captivating on the silver screen.

The often dark Northern Irish sense of humour is also given a good showcase, like when Buddy is trying to solve a mathematical problem with his granddad who tells him to make his numbers indistinct so his teacher will give him the benefit of the doubt.

“But there’s only one right answer,” says Buddy.

His Pop replies: “If that were true, son, people wouldn’t be blowing themselves up all across town.”

(L to R) Caitriona Balfe as "Ma", Jamie Dornan as "Pa", Judi Dench as "Granny", Jude Hill as "Buddy", and Lewis McAskie as "Will" in director Kenneth Branagh's BELFAST, a Focus Features release. Credit : Rob Youngson / Focus Features

https://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/people/belfast-review-kenneth-branagh-finds-happiness-amid-a-conflicted-city-3535923

Belfast film review: Branagh’s playful nostalgia warms the heart even as it makes blood run cold

Anyone who says this personal movie isn’t political is kidding themselves

Awinner at Toronto, and tipped to snag more big prizes at the Baftas and Oscars, Kenneth Branagh’s latest movie is a semi-autobiographical drama about growing up during the Troubles. Though it contains sentimental and self-serving moments, (and presses the ‘killer Van Morrison track’ button way too often), I loved it. The majority of the scenes may be shot in black and white, but the logic that underpins the story is anything but.

It’s 1969 and North Belfast urchin, Buddy (Jude Hill), is obsessed with football, dragons, comics and his brainy, dainty classmate, Catherine (Olive Tennant).

Buddy’s family live in a “mixed” neighbourhood and our hero is flabbergasted when a riot takes place in his street, designed to scare off Catholics. Buddy’s clan are Protestants, but his Pa (Jamie Dornan), Ma (Caitriona Balfe), older brother, Will (Lewis McAskie) and grandparents, Pop and Granny (Ciarán Hinds and Judi Dench) despise the “gangsters” spear-heading the unrest. Militia leader Billy Clanton (Colin Morgan) insists all Protestants offer “cash or commitment”. And though Pa refuses to do either, Will and Buddy get swept up in the violence. As the British army become a permanent fixture in the area, Pa – mostly working in England, as a joiner – implores Ma to consider a re-location.

While full of (cracking) jokes, Belfast is incredibly tense. What’s taking place is ethnic cleansing (Clanton uses the word “cleanse”) and what makes it so confounding is that the lovely, Protestant families on Buddy’s street are complicit in the process.

Pa is referred to, twice, as a “lone ranger”, while a series of edits, and the Tex Ritter ballad High Noon link him to Gary Cooper’s Will Kane. He’s also shot from below, so he looms above us, and his excellent hand and eye coordination (he’s an expert bowler) pays dividends in a post-looting stand-off that shows the whole, pulchritudinous family pulling together to rout the gun-toting Clanton.

I’m guessing the real Mr and Mrs Branagh didn’t save their son from a bullet to the head. Which doesn’t rankle because, seconds after this dramatic and rapturous scene, Pop says the loyalists will now “send someone serious” after Pa, making clear that Clanton was always a footling foe and that the problem is so much bigger than the movie-dazzled Buddy can comprehend.

To put it another way, Buddy has the same name as the innocent protagonist of cosy Christmas classic, Elf. And Hinds’ magnificently wise and twinkly-eyed Pop definitely owes something to Santa Claus. But don’t be fooled. Nothing can magic away the prejudice that rips this community apart. And anyone who says this personal movie isn’t political is kidding themselves.

The cinematography and sound design, by the way, are a treat. In one sequence, the camera takes a 360 degree twirl, as time gets woozy and the world goes quiet. There’s also wicked fun to be had contrasting Pa and Ma’s immaculate, spartan, rented home with the grandparents’ more rickety gaff. The camera loiters at the open windows of both houses, allowing us to get a good look at Pop’s TV, which looks as if it’s been feasted on by mice.

True, the visuals in Roma (a film to which Belfast has been much compared) are more original. On the other hand, it’s rare, even in this day and age, for a director to have working-class roots and Branagh flies the flag beautifully for anyone whose child-care routine involved a granny, rather than a nanny.

Branagh - who mis-used Dench horribly in Artemis Fowl - has now atoned for that crime. Dench, like the whole cast, is irresistible. And as well as making a decent fist of the Belfast accent, she gets the last word. As Granny watches loved ones leave, Dench growls, with a fury indistinguishable from grief, “Go now, and don’t look back.”

Branagh, of course, has chosen to disobey that command. He’s a highly esteemed director but for me, this is the first project he’s made that doesn’t labour to impress. Belfast casually acknowledges the nastiness of existence. Here’s to a playful take on nostalgia, that somehow warms your heart, even as it makes your blood run cold.

Jude Hill as Buddy / Rob Youngson / Focus Features

https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/belfast-film-review-kenneth-branagh-jamie-dornan-catriona-balfe-b977658.html

Remember… it could mean that Branagh’s heartwarming story, aided by an uplifting soundtrack from Belfast’s own Van Morrison, is better received internationally rather than locally, where we’ve grown accustomed to expecting the worst to happen. — Newsletter

#Tait rhymes with hat #Good times #Belfast Movie #Review #Newsletter #20 January 2022 #Belfast Telegraph #Evening Standard #21 January 2022

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