ALAN GILSENAN: WRITER/DIRECTOR
Alan Gilsenan graduated with First Class Honours in Modern English and Sociology from Trinity College, Dublin where he received the inaugural A.J. Leventhal Scholarship.
After initially making a number of short films, Gilsenan directed a number of award-winning documentary films about Ireland: THE ROAD TO GOD KNOWS WHERE (Special Jury Prize, 1989 European Film Awards), STORIES FROM THE SILENCE (both of which won two Jacobs Television Awards, PROPHET SONGS and BETWEEN HEAVEN AND WOOLWORTHS.
Next he made the documentary series GOD BLESS AMERICA for ITV Network. These were six hour-long, highly personal portraits of U.S. cities through the eyes of American authors - Gore Vidal’s Washington DC, Neil Simon’s New York, Scott Turow’s Chicago, Marsha Hunt’s Philadelphia, Patricia Cornwell’s Richmond and Garrison Keillor’s Minneapolis and Saint Paul.
Other documentaries include the opening and closing episodes of THE IRISH EMPIRE, an extensive history of the Irish Diaspora for BBC, RTE and SBS Australia; EMERALD SHOES , an ITV Network Special on the history of Irish Dance; THE GREEN FIELDS OF FRANCE, a poetic film about the Irish who died in World War One; PRIVATE DANCER, a behind-the-scenes portrait of Ireland’s first lap-dance club; MAURA’S STORY, the story of a young Irish-American woman who became a Buddhist saint; ROAD II which revisited THE ROAD TO GOD KNOWS WHERE; and a portrait of playwright Tom Murphy SING ON FOREVER; and THE GHOST OF ROGER CASEMENT, a documentary on the life of English knight and executed Irish rebel Roger Casement, which revealed the results of a forensic examination into the infamous Black Diaries and which won an IFTA Award and Best Feature Documentary at the Celtic Film Festival.
Gilsenan has directed film drama including Samuel Beckett's EH JOE, the short film ZULU 9, an experimental film based on Paul Durcan’s poem SIX NUNS DIE IN CONVENT INFERNO; the experimental feature film ALL SOULS' DAY, both of which he also wrote; as well as the feature film TIMBUKTU for which he was nominated for an IFTA as both director and designer.
Gilsenan also directs for the theatre. His productions include the world premiere of Tom Murphy's THE PATRIOT GAME and ON THE OUTSIDE/ON THE INSIDE as well as Tom MacIntyre’s WHAT HAPPENED BRIDGIE CLEARY for the Abbey; the Irish premieres of Jean Genet's THE BALCONY and Tennessee Williams' SMALL CRAFT WARNINGS at the Focus; his own adaptation of John Banville's novel THE BOOK OF EVIDENCE and Samuel Beckett’s FOOTFALLS at the Gate Theatre.
Most recently, Gilsenan made a four-part documentary on St Ita’s Psychiatric Hospital called THE ASYLUM and THE LEGEND OF LIAM CLANCY, both for RTE. These were followed by the four-part documentary series THE HOSPICE (which won the IFTA for Best Documentary series), the historical documentary THE JUBILEE PLOT and THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING IRISH, broadcast Spring 2008
Alan Gilsenan is also a member of the Irish Film Board.