In this episode of the Film Ireland Podcast, we celebrate two great new Irish films.
First, Mo O’Connell chats with actor Carolyn Bracken about their feature Horseshoe, which is released in cinemas on 5th December. Mo, an accomplished actor herself, and a producer on the award-winning family dramedy, chats with about their Carolyn about their exciting new indie film.
Then, contributor Hayley Jorja sits down with IFTA-nominated filmmaker Nathan Fagan to discuss his short animated documentary Inside, The Valley Sings, which has qualified for the 98th Academy Awards® and won Best Animated Short Film at the Dublin International Film Festival. The film follows three prisoners trapped in prolonged solitary confinement, who seek comfort and escape in the boundless landscapes of their imaginations. (Starting at 19:38)
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Mo O'Connell is a RADA-trained, multi-award-winning actor and filmmaker. She is the founder and head of both 3 Hot Whiskeys Films and the Dublin International Comedy Film Festival. Earlier this year, she was awarded Completion Funding from Screen Ireland for the feature film Horseshoe, which she co-produced with Wavewalker Films and 3 Hot Whiskeys Prods. In the past year, she completed the Screen Ireland Creative Leaders Course led by Stephen Fagan and Fiona Flynn and was selected by the Catalyst International Film Festival for their new Screenwriting Lab for Emerging Writers. Mo has made over 12 short films and produced and directed her own multi-award-winning comedy feature-length film, SPA Weekend, which won the 'She is on Fire' Award at its world premiere at the Female Filmmakers Film Festival Berlin in 2019. Mo's most recent films as director,Haven and Bruise, have won numerous awards on the festival circuit, with Mo also winning the Pitching Award at the Galway Film Fleadh 2022 for Haven. She was awarded a Distinction for her studies for the Diploma in Advanced Producing, ratified by Screen Ireland and TU Dublin University, and was selected by the Advanced Producers Programme to partake in the prestigious Lord David Puttnam Scholarship.
Horseshoe
All Families Are Mad…Not least the Canavans. A drama comedy with a twist set in the wild West of Ireland. When Colm, the head of the family, dies, there are few who mourn his passing, not even his four estranged adult children. But the legalities of his will must be observed and more than one Canavan sibling is harbouring secrets. As the Canavans return to the family home, the fate of the family unit, their sanity and the Canavan estate all hang in the balance.
In cinemas 5th December 2025.
Inside, The Valley Sings
Inside, The Valley Sings, the Oscar®-qualifying animated documentary directed by award-winning Irish filmmaker Nathan Fagan, offers an exploration of life inside solitary confinement. Officially entering consideration for the 98th Academy Awards®, the film combines hand-drawn animation with personal testimonies from three survivors, revealing how individuals construct inner landscapes of memory, fantasy, and imagination to endure isolation.
Named a Rising Star by Screen International in 2025, Nathan Fagan is an award-winning Irish writer and director whose work has already garnered much recognition. A two-time IFTA nominee, Fagan’s films have received numerous accolades, including his short Flicker, co-directed with Luke Daly, which won the Grand Prix Award at the Cork International Film Festival, was longlisted for an Oscar®, and earned an IFTA nomination. His film Skin to Skin premiered on Nowness, won Best Short Film at the Emerging Director Awards, and received a Cannes YDA nomination.
