Join WFT Ireland as we chat with two very talented documentary filmmakers in an intimate fireside chat at the House Hotel. We are delighted to talk with Ciara Nic Chormaic (Ó Bhéal) and Ciara Hyland (Croíthe Radacacha) – two women creating films in the Irish language with the support of TG4 – for a live podcast recording. Discussing resilience and the skills it takes to create, join us in celebrating the screening of both their films at the Fleadh.
Following this, we will enjoy a networking session, where we can all enjoy a glass of wine and finger food as we reflect on another year, filled with challenges and wins in our quest for gender equality and diversity in the Irish Screen Industries.
When: Saturday 15th July, 2:45pm Fireside Chat / 3:30pm Networking Drinks
Where: House Hotel, Galway City
This event has been made possible with the support of Coimisiún na Meán.
Register your spot here, attendees will be emailed about a follow up panel.
Ciara Nic Chormaic
Ciara is a filmmaker based in Dublin. Her most recent feature documentary Ó Bhéal looks at how hip-hop artists are drawing on the rich tradition of sean-nós, poetry and the Irish language as a source of inspiration. It will premiere at the Galway Film Fleadh in 2023. She is a co-director of Farran Films, an independent film company. In 2022 she directed Clouded Reveries/Aisling Trí Néallaibh, an intimate exploration of acclaimed writer Doireann Ní Ghríofa’s world and creative process. The film was funded by The Arts Council and TG4 through the Ildána Award. In 2020 her debut feature documentary on the life and work of the iconic fashion photographer Perry Ogden, entitled Skin+Soul was the recipient of the Reel Art Award and premiered at the Dublin International Film Festival in 2020. Fashion as art, is a theme which she returns to again and again her work and prior to making Skin+Soul she wrote, directed and produced a documentary series entitled Snáithe (Threads) for TG4 exploring identity, patronage and perception in the story of Irish fashion, which featured as part of an exhibition in the Fashion and Textiles Museum in London in Summer 2018. Prior to becoming a director, she was an award-winning producer for over fifteen years.
Ciara Hyland
Ciara is a highly experienced writer and filmmaker. She is passionate about the visual, cinematic telling of stories that impact emotionally and tell us something about the world we live in today. Her feature documentary Croíthe Radacacha/ Radical Hearts focuses on several same sex relationships between radical women and celebrates the ‘love that dares not speak its name’ found at the heart of the Irish Revolution. In 2021 she made Forgotten: The Widows of the Irish Revolution on the wives and children of the leaders of the 1916 Rising and what happened them after their husbands and fathers were executed. Women hold up half the sky and yet they are often forgotten about when it comes to history. Ciara’s interest in uncovering forgotten voices from the past also led to her writing and directing Cogadh ar Mhná/ a War on Women in 2020 . It broached a taboo topic for the first time – the issue of sexual abuse during the Irish Revolution. Using the witness testimony that women who experienced it left behind, it showed that this was perpetrated by all sides in the conflict. Other documentaries that she has directed for TG4 and RTÉ cover topics as far ranging as hunger strikes, epidemic diseases and political history. She writes fiction whenever she can and in a previous life was a Script Supervisor on drama productions.
