A powerful Irish film, ‘Faith of Our Fathers’, detailing the life of a Catholic priest evading capture during the Penal times, has been honoured with the coveted Gabriel Award.
This triumph for Irish cinema was particularly celebrated in Donegal, where local talent Antoin O’Doherty from Gaoth Dobhair plays a leading role.
The film, commissioned by global satellite broadcaster EWTN, was entirely produced and filmed in Ireland, with an all-Irish cast and crew.
O’Doherty, expressing his excitement upon hearing the news, said: “I am thrilled Faith of Our Fathers has received this prestigious award. I am not surprised it has done so well as there was such a great team working on this film. It is well worth seeing and I would like to congratulate all involved on this award.”
Directed by County Down’s Campbell Miller, ‘Faith of Our Fathers’ brings to life the turbulent history of the Penal times in Ireland, focusing on a priest who lives in hiding to minister to his congregation, performing Mass in secret at remote Mass Rocks and teaching in a hedge school.
The film’s authenticity was enhanced by including Irish as the primary language in the hedge school scenes.
Antoin, who is a native Irish speaker from the Gaeltacht, shared his delight over the recognition of the Irish language within the film.
“As I am from the Gaeltacht and an Irish speaker, I am equally delighted about this award because of the Irish language content in the film. It was great to see Gaeilge being used in this film following the recent successes of other Irish language films coming from Ireland.”
Executive Producer Aidan Gallagher of EWTN Ireland celebrated the victory as a testament to the hard work of everyone involved.
He said: “This is an incredible honour and a tribute to the hard work and dedication of the entire cast and crew. The production comprised more than 90 people, including actors, extras, a film crew, and support personnel, who were on location for three weeks of filming and rehearsal.”
The film, which was shot primarily on location at the Dromantine Conference & Retreat Centre in County Down, is available to stream on Amazon Prime and continues to be broadcast on EWTN.
Reaching over 435 million households worldwide, EWTN is accessible on platforms including SKY, Virgin Media, and online at EWTN.ie.
The Gabriel Awards, now in their 58th year, celebrate artistic excellence in film, broadcast, and digital media that embodies a profound vision of humanity and life.
This marks the second Gabriel Award for EWTN Ireland, the first being in 2020 for the docudrama ‘Hope’.
Both ‘Faith of Our Fathers’ and ‘Hope’ have been screened at the Vatican and presented personally to Pope Francis.
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