With her latest short garnering acclaim on the international stage, Silent Grace writer/director Maeve Murphy sits down with Associate Editor Gemma Creagh to talk about her sustained career making powerful films
Bold, creative, and fiercely tenacious, Maeve Murphy is a filmmaker whose body of work is dedicated to exploring stories that make a difference. From the gritty vérité realism of her debut Silent Grace to the electric immediacy of her latest short St Pancras Sunrise, which is about to screen at Fastnet in May, and then in June at Raindance — Murphy’s distinct authorial voice packs a gut punch; every scene is both deeply personal and politically charged.
Maeve’s journey into the world of film began with an act of determination. “I started my journey as a filmmaker in Ken Loach’s production company, which was then called Parallax Pictures. I was there by chance — I had gone to see him do a film Q&A with The Guardian down at the Southbank in London, and cheekily gave him a script with my number on the front. And he phoned me! I was actually living in my shack of a flat in King’s Cross at that time.”
A Career Launched
What followed was an apprenticeship with Loach and his team — a crash course in creative discipline and compassionate politics. “He suggested I meet his producer Sally Hibben, and she gave me work as a receptionist and general runner. Over time I graduated to screenwriter, and the first version of the script for Beyond the Fire was written there with Media 2 Parallax slate funding. I felt connected with Ken Loach as a mentor, and I made my first short there as a director — Amazing Grace, starring Aidan Gillen and Clare Cathcart, about two Irish people who meet in Soho by chance.” “Ken’s approach permeated into me via observation — his polite but strong insistence on his vision, and also his humanism, his compassion for people struggling, and his fierce rage at injustice. The support I got with that short is something I really treasure.”
For Silent Grace, it was: this story has to be told. These Republican women… had been effectively written out of history.
That short would shape the thematic core of a career defined by stories of deep empathy and emotional truth. Maeve’s debut feature, Silent Grace, remains a landmark in British-Irish independent film — a searing drama of solidarity among Republican women in Armagh prison, ignored by the official record.
The film starred Orla Brady and premiered at the Galway Film Fleadh. It went on to be the UK entry for Cannes in 2002, won the Soka Art Award in 2004, and enjoyed a UK/Ireland cinema release with Guerrilla Films. Broadcast on TV3/Virgin Media and Hulu, its legacy was sealed when The Irish Times ranked it No. 38 in its list of the “50 Greatest Irish Films Ever Made.”
“Performances helped it to soar. The film’s reputation has increased…”
Murphy’s follow-up, Beyond the Fire, was a bold tonal shift — a romantic drama that explored sexual healing in the aftermath of trauma. “With Beyond the Fire, it was a real desire to tell a sexual healing love story in the wake of violation. I had no idea how taboo that was — and perhaps it’s still the most radical or groundbreaking film I’ve ever made.”
The film won Best Film at the London Independent Film Festival and was praised by the The Belfast Telegraph as an “unsettling but brilliant drama.” Broadcast instantly on TV3/Virgin Media and later shown on the BBC, it became one of the “Top 40 Most Watched.”
Her third feature, Taking Stock, was a light-hearted departure. A romantic comedy starring Kelly Brook, it played at Raindance and won the Bud Abbott Feature Comedy Award at the Garden State Film Festival in 2016. “Taking Stock came from an emotional desire for joy in film — just to have fun — and I think after doing two weighty, meaty dramas, it was time to let my hair down.”
Taking Stock went on to receive a cinema release via Swipe Films and found international popularity on Netflix. It’s in the short form lately that Murphy has been driven to explore narratives with impact — from Sushi, which won at Venice Days, to the documentary Global Network for Peace on BBC World News, and Siobhan, a prize-winner at the Sochi Film Festival.
Now, her most recent short, St Pancras Sunrise, has been a breakout success — has amassed numerous international accolades including Best Short at the City of Angels Film Festival and Silicon Beach Film Festival, with additional nods from the British Short Film Awards, London Breeze Film Festival, and Greece International Film Festival. “Yes, it’s great that St Pancras Sunrise has done well — it’s won eight awards!”
The Power of Collaboration
The film — a gritty yet lyrical tale of arrival, survival, urban connection and protest — began as a “proof of concept” for her feature, which is in development with Tile Media, supported by Screen Ireland and Northern Ireland Screen. While Maeve pens the script with a view to directing, the film is being produced by Fiona Kinsella, with cinematic patriarch Jim Sheridan on board as executive producer. “Jim is someone I knew, and he’s been like an informal mentor — this is the first time we’ve formally worked together, and it’s great… Fiona has an ability to see where the holes are… Jim has an ability to suggest ways to condense with laser focus.”
Based on Murphy’s lockdown novella Christmas at the Cross, the film is inspired by the real-life killing of Patsy Malone in King’s Cross in 1981 by a serving police officer. The short opens with archive footage of a women’s occupation of a church that followed the next year. “There’s an arresting moment at the start with Orla Brady as a local women’s activist leader.”
Murphy’s strong personal connection to King’s Cross informs the film’s evocative look and feel. “I lived in King’s Cross, London, in the 90s. I always found it edgy but cinematically exciting… I walked around a lot and took photos of old King’s Cross. Argyle Street still has sleazy B&Bs, and there are great high-angle spots… We enjoyed the freedom of shooting like this — that vérité feel.”
Visually inspired by The Third Man and Chungking Express, the short pulses with noir mood and gritty realism — a hallmark of Murphy’s work from her earliest days at Parallax.
In all her films, from the socially conscious to the deeply personal, Murphy’s guiding force is connection — human, emotional, often feminist. “Always at the heart of all the films are profound connections — or bonding or friendships — between two people… Women coming together — not just the one great woman…” On her work she adds…
Women together being brave, or even heroic, always excites me.
Now, Murphy’s cinematic rebellion continues. St Pancras Sunrise screens at the Fastnet Film Festival this May and Raindance in June. And she’s eyeing her next feature A Radical Tenderness, written by Sabina Berman, as well as a co-written biopic on Shane MacGowan and Victoria Mary Clarke.
Stories too Close to Home
She’s seen first hand how film can make real-world changes. “Finally, four years after Sarah Everard’s murder and 44 years after Patsy Malone’s, if a Met police officer in London fails his vetting, he will be sacked. Myself and Emma Eliza Regan (Blathnaid) did a campaign on social media for the short. It’s great to feel connected — albeit in a small way — to such a big change for women’s safety.”
Maeve has screened her film at several London Film Festivals. “It’s a rare and beautiful moment when culture intersects with current affairs, and in this instance, with a win!”
When asked what advice she has for the next generation of filmmakers trying to find their voice and tell stories that matter, Maeve considers for a moment. “Short films are not the lesser medium. They are a training ground and a calling card — so very much worth doing — but they are also an art form and can create real value. So just do it!”
And do it, Maeve shall. We’ll be cheering her on from the front row.
About Maeve Murphy
Maeve Murphy is an acclaimed writer-director whose films have screened at top festivals including Venice, Sochi and Raindance, where her latest work is currently playing. Her debut feature Silent Grace was the UK entry for Cannes and named one of The Irish Times’ “50 Greatest Irish Films Ever Made.” Her follow-up, Beyond the Fire, won Best Film at the London Independent Film Festival, while Taking Stock was a Netflix hit after its Raindance premiere. Her acclaimed shorts — including the Venice winner Sushi and the multi-award-winning St Pancras Sunrise — continue to gain international recognition.
Follow Maeve on X @MaeveMurphyFilm / Instagram maeve7699
