Tag Archives: Caroline E Farrell

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Caroline Farrell

Caroline Farrell is a writer and filmmaker from Dublin, Ireland. Recipient of a Stowe Story Lab/Screen Ireland Screenwriting Fellowship, 2022, she was a finalist in the BBC Writer’s Room 2022 (Top 3%).

In 2018, Caroline wrote and directed the short film FRAMED, selected for screening at over 30 festivals worldwide. It also won ‘Best Short Horror Film’ at the Underground Cinema Film Festival, Ireland. 2019. 

FRAMED

https://player.vimeo.com/video/266284274

She has written and co-produced the short films ADAM [2013] and the multi-award winning IN RIBBONS [2015], the only Irish short film to screen at the ‘Women Deliver Global Conference’ in Copenhagen in 2016. 

IN RIBBONS

https://player.vimeo.com/video/257284621

During Lockdown 2020, Caroline made a short experimental film, HEART(h) themed around the emotions of grief and silence during lockdown. It screened at Flick Flair Film Festival and the Little Cinema Galway in 2021.

Caroline is the author of the novel, LADY BETH, ‘Best Novel’ at The Carousel Aware Prize Awards 2017 (Ireland) and the winner of an Eric Hoffer Award 2019 (Mystery/Thriller Category) (USA). She is the writer of several short stories including BOOMER TRUDY (Epoque Press 2020) which has been adapted to a screenplay.  

LADY BETH

With vengeance churning, a grieving mother goes back to her sordid past to destroy the evil man she once ran from – the father of her dead son. 

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The Haunted and Fantastical: Short Film Programme 2017-2018 Season

The Maynooth Film for All Club season finished this month and will resume in October 2018. I was delighted to be invited to present another programme of short films for the season, and had great fun devising a theme and selecting some wonderful films. As always, the standard of submitted productions was very high, but unfortunately, I could only include seven films in the final programme. The theme I chose this time around was ‘The Haunted and Fantastical’ with an aim to screen films that were chilling and unusual and would most likely leave a lasting impression! With a mix of horror, fantasy and even some comedy, we received great feedback from the MFFA audiences, so here is the full selection and congrats to all the filmmakers on the amazing work.

 

THE CLOCKMAKER’S DREAM
A live action fantasy/art-house short, written/directed by Cashell Horgan (Paddy), starring Joe Mullins (Pilgrim Hill), and narrated by Jared Harris (Fringe, Mad Man, Sherlock Holmes, Lincoln, etc.)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4837506
http://www.facebook.com/theclockmakersdream

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STRANGERS IN THE NIGHT

Horror Comedy written by Gavin Keane, Directed by Conor McMahon and starring Niamh Algar, Michael Hough, Nora Relihan

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4515108/

https://www.facebook.com/StrangersintheNightShortFilm

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TH3 ROOM

When Jean clicks on an email link, it seems to be just a static shot of an empty room but on closer inspection all is not what it appears to be.

Written and Directed by Sean Breathnach

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1855371/

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THE NYMPH

A short fantasy written and directed by Damian Draven, starring Martin Galligan and Anna Ilaya Ozolina

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4536860/

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THE PIGMAN

An outcast creature pines to be accepted by his local village. One night, outside his mountainous home, an opportunity arises. Written and Directed by Rik Gordon, starring Robert Render, Kathleen Bridget Murphy, Robbie Beggs and Jay Dee

https://www.facebook.com/thepigmanfilm

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SANDBOY

A tale of loss and redemption. Written and Directed by Vittoria Colonna, starring Wallis Murphy- Gunn.

https://www.facebook.com/Sandboythemovie

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LOST BOY

A story about the imagination of children, and the unbreakable bond between brothers.

Written and Directed by John Christopher

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Caroline is writer and director of FRAMED (2018)  and has also written and co-produced IN RIBBONS (2015) and ADAM (2013). She is the author of the award-winning novel, LADY BETH.

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Not in all me born days!

When I was a kid, Eason was a bookstore that held treasures I wasn’t privy to. When I was a teenager, working on the other side of O’Connell Street in Madame Nora’s (I know, sounds like a brothel, right?), Eason was a bookstore that held treasures I could rarely afford. When I was a young mother, Eason was a bookstore to lose myself in. To browse in, to inhale that new book scent, to flick through the pages of text, to marvel at the most beautiful cover art and read the blurbs and author biographies, but rarely to buy. In the days before I became a Librarian, before books would become extensions at the ends of my fingers, I even fantasized about working there, but not in all me born days, did I ever think that my book would find a place on those shelves. In Eason. But there it is.

https://www.easons.com/lady-beth-caroline-e-farrell-9781533698599

 

Now, Eason is a massive company, with a warehouse that bulges at the seams with thousands and thousands of books, huge boxes shoved around by forklifts on pallets to be transported, processed and distributed. I would expect that it takes some journey for one little book to find its way out to the company owned stores and franchisees, but the journey has begun, hallelujah, so here’s hoping the little book also finds its readers there!

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An Omen? Or just the flutterings of a dumb bird?

A Raven sits on my mantelpiece, surveying all and sundry with a haughty eye. Arkyne, as I call him, is cast iron, in body and, yes, I believe, in spirit. He travelled here from a curio and antiques store in a small town called Cashmere in Washington, USA. As I recall, the suitcase didn’t make it onto our flight home from Seattle, well not until two days later, and I worried so for Arkyne, if he would ever get here. My treasured dark-winged harvester.

So, the other day, while we were out, we got a call from our neighbour that our house alarm was going off. Turning back from our journey, all the usual scenarios went through my head, but reaching home, there was silence, the house unturned, except for the strange and unusual code that flashed on the alarm keypad.  A number we had never seen before.

And then I ascended the stairs, and coming at me, invoking my best Tippi Hedren screech and dramatic pose, were two flapping black wings and a haughty eye, heading straight for mine! As I cowered against the impending gouging, my hysterical cry of It’s a bird! somehow translated to It’s a burglar! as it reached the ears of my better half, now downstairs in the kitchen. Thundering up the stairs he bounded, my defender, prepared to face down this unseen intruder, his face – and mine – creasing to confusion as neither burglar – nor bird – presented on the landing!

As my heart rate fluttered downwards, for a moment, I will admit, my very dark and fertile imagination wondered if Arkyne was still on the mantelpiece; if we had somehow found him out. Had we come upon his free gaff flight of fancy? Was this how he spent his time when we were not at home?

Yes, my better half gave me that same pitying get a grip look that you would probably like to give me right now.

We found the dark-winged intruder perched on my favourite chair. My husband opened the window, ordered him off the premises, and out he flew, though not before he hovered for a minute, eye to eye with the source of his liberation. Perhaps to say thanks? Perhaps to depart some omen, some warning, some message… or perhaps, it was simply a look of sympathy to the poor man having to live with this dumb bird!

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ADAM Short Film: View it here…

Many years ago, I wrote a short story about a little boy struggling as he witnesses the violent arguments between his parents. A loner who does not smile, ADAM is 7 and deeply affected by the violence at home, the constant tension and the spoken and the unspoken messages he is too young to comprehend.

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He likes wearing his daddy’s motorcycle helmet. No-one can see him under there, in the secret world behind the black visor, his impenetrable armour. Inside there, he can be afraid and he can hide the shame he feels, though he’s not sure what he has done wrong. No-one can see him cry, and no-one can see him getting angry…


Fast forward to 2012, and from my adapted script, our short film came to be. Time to let ADAM out into in the world now (with a mindful warning for the faint-hearted of the violence and bad language therein).

 

Click on the VIMEO Link to view ADAM

https://vimeo.com/191958557

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I would also like to repeat my big thanks and respect to the following for the grunt work applied to get this film made on a tiny budget. The mighty talented, and big-hearted Denise Pattison, Director. Gar Daly, Cinematographer. John King, Editor, Brynmor Pattison, Sound. Amy O’Neill, Make-Up. And to our superb actors, Johnny Elliott, Sinead Monaghan, Aideen McLoughlin, and Eric McGuirk (ADAM). Also, big thanks to Errol Farrell for the saintly patience and support!

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A Doll for Detta: Short Story published by Entropy Magazine

A Doll For Detta

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Notes On Motherhood: A Doll For Detta by Caroline Farrell

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IN RIBBONS to Screen at Women Deliver World Conference 2016

Delighted in me bones that IN RIBBONS will screen at the prestigious Women Deliver World Conference 2016, which takes place in Copenhagen, Denmark from May 16th – 19th. This global conference unites thousands of world influencers, policymakers, activists, journalists, and young people from over 150 countries to spotlight solutions and focus on how to make the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) matter most for girls and women. Founder Jill Sheffield and CEO Katja Iverson articulate concisely the aim of the conference, “Our message is simple and powerful: Sustainable development is possible only when girls and women are healthy and thriving. Women deliver so much more than babies. They deliver for themselves, their families, their communities, and their societies. When you invest in girls and women, there is a ripple effect and everybody wins.”

Screening at the Arts and Cinema Corner, an initiative which aims to transform a section of the conference into a creative space for showcasing international artists and creative work, I can’t articulate enough what an absolute honour it is for all involved to be part of a conference that advocates for women’s rights, health and well-being in such a prestigious and meaningful process. And it is such a credit to the conference organisers through their recognition and showcasing of how the medium of film can have a place in expressing the profound and the important through the universal language of visceral image and action. The only Irish film to screen amongst an amazing selection from all over the world, it will be shown on Wednesday,18th May. In addition to lunchtime workshops with world-renowned directors, producers, and poets, partial film screenings will run consecutively throughout the three days.

An Independent production, part personal money, part crowdfunded and also part funded through a bursary award from Kildare County Council Arts Service, IN RIBBONS is beautifully directed/edited by Marie Valerie Jeantelot. Starring Patrick O’Donnell, Geraldine McAlinden, Melissa Nolan and Rebecca Waldron, line produced and set design by Tom Dowling, sound and music by Neil Horner and cinematography by Basil Al-Rawi, the theme of the film is resilience and through a highly visual and sensory narrative, tells the story of a little girl’s journey to an orphanage in 1960’s Ireland. The film continues to screen at festivals worldwide and has won coveted awards including the Jury Prize at the Worcestershire Film Festival 2015, Best Experimental Film at both the Los Angeles Cinefest, February 2016 and The Seadance Film Festival, Spain 2016, and was also awarded Best Director [Marie Valerie Jeantelot] and Best Sound [Neil Horner] at the Wolves Independent IFF in Lithuania, 2016.

More information on the conference can be found on their website