Stay
Saturday, 15th February 2014
8:00PM @ Cineworld
Stay is about a group of people caught at a crossroads, each struggling to find a place to stay, a place to call home. Abbey (Taylor Schilling of Orange is the New Black) finds herself in love with Dermot (Aidan Quinn), a disgraced professor in his 50s who’s retreated to the rugged expanse of Connemara years ago. Their happy existence is upended when Abbey finds out that she is pregnant and Dermot is too immature to consider the idea of fatherhood. Uncertain about her own feelings, Abbey decides to return home to Canada.
Initially relieved, Dermot reclaims his tiny cottage by the sea, once again master of his own domain, albeit a small one. In an attempt to keep the outside world at bay, he begins an archaeological dig which renders unexpected results, including a budding friendship with Sean, a lost boy from the neighboring village, and Michael, a former colleague who knows too much about the past for Dermot’s liking. In the end, however, it is his encounter with Deirdre, a pregnant big city girl who returns to the village because of her mother’s sudden death that opens Dermot’s heart to the idea of nurturing his own child.
Back with her dysfunctional father Frank, Abbey realizes that Montreal no longer feels like home. Repeating an age-old pattern, she turns to self-destructive behavior but in the end, it is a painful discovery about her own mother that sets her free.
Spaeaking to Film Ireland, director Wiebke von Carolsfeld said that she is “absolutely thrilled to bring Stay home to Ireland. It was a blast to shoot the Irish part of the film in Connemara. The crew was an absolute delight, working with true dedication under sometimes less than ideal conditions – we managed to shoot the film in the rainiest June on record. The actors were uniformly inspiring. Aside from working with proven local actors like Brian Gleeson, Darine Ni Dhonnchadha, Fred McClosky, Carrie Crowley and Chris McHallem, it was the discovery of talents like Nika McGuigan and Barry Keoghan that was truly gratifying. Both give fabulously layered performances in Stay, especially considering that for Nika this is her first feature film.”
Tickets are available to book from Filmbase or online here
Director: Wiebke von Carolsfeld
Cast: Aidan Quinn, Taylor Schilling, Barry Keoghan
Duration: 99 minutes
Check out the rest of our previews of Irish films screening at this year’s festival.
The 12th Jameson Dublin International Film Festival runs 13 – 23 February 2014.
