Featured photo: Cry from the Sea. CMG
The Donegal TV and film industry is poised for another blockbuster year in 2024 with the release of several major projects.
Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland (Screen Ireland) has revealed that five productions filmed in Donegal will be hitting our screens this year.
From ‘Cry From The Sea’ filmed in Inishowen, to ‘Four Letters of Love’ filmed in Glenveagh and other locales, the county welcomed a host of acclaimed actors and filmmakers in 2023.
The list of famous faces who worked on films in the northwest last year includes Pierce Brosnan, Helena Bonham Carter, Gabriel Byrne, Dominic Cooper, Sarah Gadon, Sarah Bolger and Aidan Quinn, to name but a few.
Among the big releases is ‘Cry From The Sea’ – a historical romance directed by Vic Sarin that centres on a grieving lighthouse keeper on an isolated Irish island in the aftermath of the first World War and the Irish Civil War. When the new priest clashes with him over the improper burial of his late wife on the lighthouse grounds, the conflict leaves the island’s loyalties divided. Filmed in Donegal and Mayo, it is set to be delivered in early 2024.
‘Four Letters of Love’ from award winning film-maker Polly Steele follows a young couple who are made for each other, but fate does not always choose the easiest path to true love. As destiny pulls them together, family, passion and faith drive them apart. The production was made in Donegal and Antrim and the delivery date has been set for early 2024.
Other highlights of the year ahead include Donegal-made feature films ‘Fidil Ghorm (Blue Fiddle)’, ‘Mad for Love’, and TV Drama ‘Saor Sin Ón Olc’.
‘Fidil Ghorm (Blue Fiddle)’ directed by Anne McCabe is a story about the magic of music. Molly is a ten-year-old girl who believes that if she learns to play the fiddle like her dad and wins the All-Ireland Music championship, her father will wake from his coma. Starring Eddie Lawlor, Barry McGovern, Siobhán O’Kelly and Aindrias de Staic, the release is set for early 2024.
‘Mad for Love’, starring John Connors, was filmed in both Donegal and Dublin. The film follows a manic-depressive man during a voluntary stay at a mental hospital as he falls head over heels for an involuntary schizophrenic patient. The film is set to be completed in early 2024.
‘Saor Sin Ón Olc’ starring Dónal O Healaí and Hannah Brady will be out in mid-2024. The six-part series follows a police officer whose mother is found murdered and buried in a bog 15 years after she went missing. The murderer is at large, but the policeman is strictly forbidden from investigating the case. A citizen journalist is producing a podcast focusing on the murder. She can get access to people who refuse to talk to the detectives. If the police officer wants justice for his mother, he has no choice but to join forces with her.
Screen Ireland figures show that, in 2023, there was a total screen industry production spend in the Irish economy across local goods and services of €322 million – despite high levels of international disruption due to industry strikes.
Désirée Finnegan, Chief Executive of Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland, commented from the Screen Ireland 2024 Slate launch and said: “Last year was an outstanding year for the Irish film industry and today we are delighted to launch Screen Ireland’s 2024 Slate of Productions. With over 40 projects across feature film, documentary, animation and TV drama in our line-up, we are incredibly proud to have supported such a diverse range of Irish storytelling.
“We are very proud that local production remained strong amidst global industry uncertainty last year. We look forward to bringing these new Irish stories, our language and our culture to audiences worldwide in 2024. It is a testament to the strength of Irish filmmaking and the skill and passion of all those working across the screen industry.”
