Irish films ‘Dollhouse’ and ‘Pilgrim Hill’ will make their Canadian premieres at the Toronto Irish Film Festival next month.
The annual festival, which kicks off March 8, will run for one weekend, showcasing the best of Irish talent to a Canadian audience.
Kirsten Sheridan’s ‘Dollhouse’, which stars Irish actor of the moment Jack Reynor and IFTA-nominated actress Seana Kerslake, was shot in Jim Sheridan’s house in Dalkey in 2011, without the aid of a script, a large crew, or a large budget.
Director Kirsten Sheridan instead fed the young cast short lines, in a bid to get them to react in front of the camera. The film sees a group of teenagers have fun thrashing a house until one of them reveals a dark secret.
‘Pilgrim Hill’, the debut feature from filmmaker Gerard Barrett, which earned him the IFB Rising Star Award at this year’s IFTA’s, was also shot on a miniscule budget in rural Ireland in 2011.
Barrett produced, wrote and directed the film, which stars Joe Mullins, Muiris Crowley, Corina Gough and Kevin McCormack in the story of a lonely bachelor farmer who is tasked with looking after his ill father.
Both ‘Dollhouse’ (March 9) and ‘Pilgrim Hill’ (March 8) will screen at the TIFF Bell Lightbox.
Other Irish features screening over the festival weekend include Kieron J Walsh’s ‘Jump’, which stars Martin McCann, Charlene McKenna and Nichola Burley, and Frank Berry’s documentary ‘Ballymun Lullaby’, which follows music teacher Ron Cooney as he composes original music for his students to play and record, with the help of the RTÉ Concert Orchestra.
Irish short films getting a look in at TIRFF include the Sundance screener ‘Irish Folk Furniture’, IFTA-winning films ‘Foxes’ and ‘The Boy In The Bubble’, as well as ‘Downpour’, a winner at Fastnet Film Festival, ‘Cluck’, ‘Home Turf’, ‘Trid an Stoirm’, ‘Remember Me My Ghost’, ‘Jonny Boy’
The Toronto Irish Film Festival takes place March 8 and 9.