The Irish Film Institute, in association with The Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA), presents a screening of Turner Prize-winning director Duncan Campbell’s The Welfare of Tomás Ó Hallissy on Monday, February 27th at 6.30 p.m. This screening is part of the IFI’s monthly ‘Irish Focus’ strand and will be followed by a discussion with Campbell and Sarah Glennie, director of IMMA.
The Welfare of Tomás Ó Hallissy is filmed in and around the Kerry village of Dún Chaoin and integrates newly-scripted material shot with actors and footage from The Village (1968), a film which Campbell encountered during research at the IFI Irish Film Archive. This new film is set against a fictional visit by two American anthropologists to Dún Chaoin, mirroring the premise of the earlier documentary, and re-imagining sequences such as turf cutting, rabbit hunting and gatherings in the local pub. Campbell considers the misconceptions that frame the relationship between the filmmakers and their subjects, societal shifts, and misrepresentations of rural Ireland.
The Village will also screen at the IFI on Tuesday, February 28th at 6.30 p.m. as part of the ‘From The Vaults’ monthly strand. The film examines how modernisation has affected the inhabitants of the remote village of Dún Chaoin in Co Kerry. It shows their connection with the nearby Blasket Islands and their relationship with visitors who come to observe them.
Tickets for the screening of The Welfare of Tomás Ó Hallissy and The Village are now on sale from www.ifi.ie and the IFI Box Office – 01-6793477.
