Cairdeas
English Title: Friendship
Running Time: 5 minutes
Year Of Production : 2010
Our role: Writer / Director
Shooting Format : XD CAM EX letus
Category : Fiction (Irish Short)
Friendship, a chess game, some things never end.
From an idea by Frank Reck, the script was developed into a Irish language script.
Although the film is in Irish - its language is the universal language of friendship and can be easily understood - although the festival version is subtitled in English.
About the Film
The script was written with Mick Lally in mind. One of Irelands best known actors with a love of the Irish language. He teams up with Eamonn Draper, well known taibhdhearc actor, Joe Greaney (Ros Na Run) and John O’Dowd.
The film was shot by Kevin Glynn & Ronan O’Conghaile. Edit & Clr grade by James Finlan (Killaskully & Heuston Film school )
Post Sound by Noel Quinn. An original score was composed by Ger Fahy (Lord of the Dance).
Cast and Crew
The film was shot over 2 afternoons in my local pub in Loughrea. The exterior house was my parents house. So costs were kept to a minimum.
The good friars at the Abbey allowed us to use their graveyard, and even provided us with the priests clothing & prayerbook.
It was shot on EX1 with a letus 35mm adapter and in the main used my favourite 85 mm Nikon Prime lens. It was edited and graded on FCP.
The Shoot
Cairdeas (friendship) looks at the lives of two friends, easy in each other's company, who meet every day to play chess in their local pub. These men are still boys in their own minds, continuing a game that repeats every day. In fact, they hardly need to speak to each other.
BROADCAST CREDITS: - TG4 Dec 22nd 2010 at 22:20
NYC Filmmakers Festival 2011
Earwig Film Fest 2011 - Winner ‘Best Film’
Short Film Corner - Cannes 2011
Foyle Film Festival 2010
Lahore Film Festival 2010 (Pakistan)
Chicago Irish Film Festival 2010 (USA)
Lewiston Auburn Film Festival 2010 (USA)
Clones Film Festival 2010
Underground Film Festival 2010
Die 24 Stunden von Nurnberg IFF 2010 (Germany)
Waterford Film Festival 2010
Festival Internacional de Cinema de Itacamara
Galway Film Fleadh 2010
Taispeantas Gearrscannain 2010/2011
Red Door Film Festival 2010
Festivals
The film stemmed from an idea of looking at the nature of friendship and death. Old friendship, the kind that is easy and established, needing no words. The death of an older person who has had a full life, the ‘normal’ and ‘natural’ conclusion to life. The connection of the two.
The shooting style was nice bright backlight with soft key light to make the actors as pleasant looking as possible. Friendly, good-humoured banter, and the ease of knowing what is likely to happen every day. This pleasent scene is firstly interrupted by a change in the routine, and then by death.
It is how we cope with the un-expected that make us who we are.
Mick Lally was one of Irelands best loved actors. He was very unwell at the time of the shoot, and expressed the opinion that a graveyard was no place for a man in his condition. This was his last film.
Directors Notes
