John Collins spoke to Colin McIvor, whose feature Zoo opened this year's Capital Irish Film Festival in Washington D.C.
The film, which stars Ian McElhinney, Amy Huberman, Toby Jones and Penelope Wilton, recounts the story of young Tom and his misfit friends, who fight to save 'Buster' the baby elephant during the German air raid bombings of Belfast in 1941.
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In 1941 marksmen from the Royal Ulster Constabulary, following a Directive from The Ministry of Public Security, shot dead 23 animals at Belfast Zoo. They destroyed one hyena, six wolves, one puma, one tiger, one black bear, one Barbary lion, two polar bears, one lynx and giant rat named Hugo. During these turbulent times, a woman secretly walked a young elephant from the zoo each evening to the back yard of her terraced home. There she cared for and comforted it as the Luftwaffe bombs rained down over Belfast.
Inspired by this true story, Zoo sees Tom take on the fight to save Buster the elephant aided and abetted by his misfit friends.
Zoo screened at the Capital Irish Film Festival on 1st March 2018. Zoo is released in Irish cinemas on 29th June 2018.
Colin McIvor
Colin’s debut feature, Cup Cake, starring Michelle Fairley (Game of Thrones) and Clive Russell (Game of Thrones), earned widespread critical acclaim and secured numerous international accolades, including Best Feature at the Rhode Island International Film Festival and the Audience Award at the Belfast Film Festival.
Now, his second feature as writer/director, Zoo, starring is being released theatrically via Samuel Goldwyn (US) and eOne (UK). The film was a major festival success, winning top honours at the Seattle, Giffoni, Filemon, Castellinaria, and Doha International Film Festivals.
Capital Irish Film Festival
Solas Nua’s annual Capital Irish Film Festival in Washington, D.C., presents one of the largest programmes of Irish cinema in North America, showcasing the latest Irish dramatic and documentary features, shorts, art films and animation releases by Irish and Ireland-based filmmakers.
The festival provides a US platform that amplifies the work of independent filmmakers working in Ireland and beyond, and celebrates the strength of Ireland’s contemporary cinematic culture. The programme highlights the country’s rich cultural heritage while fostering an inclusive and diverse community of Irish filmmakers. Capital Irish Film Festival champions emerging voices on Irish screens, showcases the exceptional talent and craft within Irish filmmaking, and reflects the robust and vibrant screen industry that has grown in Ireland in recent years.
The festival also presents the annual Norman Houston Short Film Award, dedicated to the memory of Norman Houston, the former Director of the Northern Ireland Bureau (NIB) in the United States. The award honours the best new short film created by a filmmaker based in or from Northern Ireland, made within the previous two years. The 2026 Norman Houston Short Film Award goes to writer-director Oliver McGoldrick for his film Three Keenings.
Read more on SolasNua.org, follow Capital Irish Film Festival on FilmFreeway here.
