Where Will We Go? A short film drama about the Defective Concrete Crisis will premiere at the 7th edition of Disappear Here film festival in Ballyliffin Hotel this Saturday September 30.
The film is a hyper-realistic drama that transports the audience into the nightmare of living in a defective concrete home.
Screams and uproar seem to be silenced far and wide in the North West of Ireland, as thousands of defective concrete homes continue to split, crack, and crumble.
With her father away, Emma is left to her own devices in their impacted home.
Isolated amongst the daunting cracks, she must piece together all that remains.
The film was shot in the winter of 2021 over four days in beautiful Culdaff, on the Inishowen coast.
The passionate team of 10 student filmmakers were driven to create a piece that would highlight the devastating impact of the ongoing defective concrete crisis.
Producer Billy Buckley notes “Artists and filmmakers have a responsibility to create work that reflects the world around them.
“We made the film to show affected homeowners that there are creative young people here who support them and are driven to amplify their experiences of the crisis.
“Coming from Dublin, Belfast and Galway the production team was shocked to find most young adults and city homeowners had no idea the defective concrete crisis existed.”
Writer and director Rory Fitzpatrick was motivated to create the film when he witnessed the outcry by innocent homeowners living in defective concrete homes.
He states “The crisis became a personal issue to me when my family discovered our holiday home in Donegal was made with defective concrete blocks.
“However, I didn’t realise the true extent of the issue until I immersed myself in the Inishowen area.
“Here, you cannot ignore their outcry. It is everywhere in Donegal. These people need help, urgently.
“Yet living in Dublin I saw none of it, it seemed like a distant concept and most people in the city weren’t even aware of the crisis existing.
“The more I researched, the more heartbroken I felt for the residents of Donegal.
“Without any say in it they have been burdened with this atrocity and are being ignored by the rest of the country.
“I wanted to help in some way. Throughout my research, I had noticed that media coverage was sparse, especially media that would capture the attention of the politically active youth.
“I wanted to create a film that would raise awareness of the issue through emotional language and bring the film to festivals across Ireland and Internationally.
“I hope that in some way this film will make people aware of the issue an encourage support.
“This issue needs to be resolved; Donegal cannot be forgotten again.”
Writer/Director Rory Fitzpatrick is a previous winner of Galway Film Fleadh’s 1 minute film contest for My Father Taught Me To Swing An Axe (2019). Cinematographer, Grainne Galvin, led an all-female camera crew to capture the film with a purposeful and empathetic eye.
Where Will We Go? stars Lir Academy graduate Niamh Bird as Emma, with a performance that encompasses the insidious nature of the crisis.
With 50 short films, 15 documentaries and 7 feature films, along with an exciting array of music videos and animated work, the Disappear Here festival in Ballyliffin is not to be missed.
Where Will We Go? will premiere on Saturday September 30th in Screen 2 at Ballyliffin Hotel as part of ‘Irish Shorts Programme 2’ from 2 – 3:30pm. Tickets are available at the box office or check out ttps://filmfreeway.com/DisappearHereFilmFestival/tickets for a full weekend pass.
Receive quality journalism wherever you are, on any device. Keep up to date from the comfort of your own home with a digital subscription.
Any time | Any place | Anywhere
SUBSCRIBE TO CURRENT EDITION TODAY
and get access to our archive editions dating back to 2007(CLICK ON THE TITLE BELOW TO SUBSCRIBE)