In this podcast, Gemma Creagh talks to Michael Kinirons, Writer/Director and Alicia Ní Ghráinne, Producer of ‘The Sparrow’.
Listen now on SoundCloud, Apple, Spotify, Acast and Amazon, or subscribe to Film Ireland wherever you get your podcasts.
In cinemas from 5th July 2024.
Starring: Ollie West, David O’Hara, Éanna Hardwicke, Aisling O’Sullivan, Isabelle Connolly, Dara Devaney and Mark O’Halloran
Wild teen Kevin Coyle grapples with guilt over a deadly secret. As his world unravels and consequences mount, Kevin is pushed to confront the truth in a heart-wrenching climax that will change him forever.
AWARDS
- Best First Irish Feature, 34th Galway Film Fleadh
- Punto Enuentro Audience Award, Seminici Film Festival, Valladolid
- Best Sound, IFTA winner
- Best Lead Actor, Ollie West IFTA nominee
Fís Éireann / Screen Ireland in association with RTÉ and Coimisiún na Meán / Broadcasting Authority of Ireland
Michael Kinirons is an Irish screenwriter and director. He studied, amongst other places, at the National Film and Television School, (NFTS) London and the Torino Film Lab, and is an alumnus of the Berlin Talent Campus. His first produced feature as screenwriter - STRANGERLAND (an Australian set mystery drama starring NICOLE KIDMAN, HUGO WEAVING and JOE FIENNES) had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival 2015.
In 2022, Michael made THE SPARROW, his debut film as writer/director. The film won Best First Feature at the Galway Film Fleadh, the audience award at Seminci FF, Valladolid and went on to win an IFTA. Kinirons’ short films have mostly been funded through Screen Ireland and have had successful runs on the international festival circuit with LOWLAND FELL winning the Special Jury Prize at the Seattle Int’l Film Festival in 2009 among other awards.
Producer, writer, and director Alicia Ní Ghráinne is founder and CEO of Tiger Darling since 2016. She has produced four shorts and two features: The Sparrow (2022) and Five and a Half Love Stories in an Apartment in Vilnius (2023), a Lithuanian-Latvian co-production. Both features won European awards, including Best First Feature at Galway Film Fleadh and Best Film in The Rebel With a Cause section at Black Nights, Tallinn. Alicia is developing a slate for 2024/25 and was selected for the Rotterdam Film Lab 2024.
