northern ireland – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

BLOODLANDS – Review by Diane Carson

October 8, 2023October 9, 2023 Diane Carson Bloodlands, Charlene McKenna, James Nesbitt, Lorcan Cranitch, northern ireland, police procedural

In the multitude of anti-heroes dominating a series, the series Bloodlands takes an honored place, for it features one of the most heartless, despicable, and yet irresistibly watchable, central characters: Detective Chief Inspector Tom Brannick. It maximizes the tension of its time period, directly after the 1960s to 1990s troubles of Northern Ireland.

Interviews

Antonia Campbell-Hughes on IT IS IN US ALL, Trauma and Gender Ambiguity – Nadine Whitney interviews

May 29, 2023August 21, 2023 Nadine Whitney Antonia Campbell-Hughes, Cosmo Jarvis, Diamond Shitter, gender ambiguity, It Is In Us All, northern ireland, Piers McGrail

Antonia Campbell-Hughes investigates what is in us all. Antonia Campbell-Hughes has worked as an actor in multiple productions across television, stage, and feature films, notably in Cordelia, 3096 Days and in Jane Campion’s Bright Star. Born in Northern Ireland but travelling around the world at a young age, Antonia developed multiple creative skills, including fashion design. She turned to screenwriting and then to directing with the marvelous and haunting film It Is In Us All starring Cosmo Jarvis. The film won an Extraordinary Cinematic Vision award at SXSW. Nadine Whitney spoke to Antonia about their journey from actor, writer, to director and the themes that inform their work.

Festivals Interviews

Stacey Gregg and Andrea Riseborough on HERE BEFORE (SXSW 2021) – Leslie Combemale interviews

March 26, 2021March 27, 2021 Leslie Combemale andrea risebprpugh, here before, Niamh Dornan, northern ireland, stacey gregg, sxsw 2021

Stacey Gregg makes her narrative feature debut with Here Before, which takes place in a small town in Northern Ireland, and is about a grieving mother Laura (Andrea Riseborough) who finds in her neighbor’s daughter echoes of her own child Josie, who died in a car accident. Megan and Laura begin a complicated relationship filled with awkward, unsettling conversations and inappropriate attachments. All the characters in the film make questionable choices, for reasons that become clear as this slow burn story packs lots of surprises and keeps you in thrall to the last scene.