SILVER

The 2022 Norman Houston Short Film Award winner:
AN IRISH GOODBYE
Set against the backdrop of a working farm in rural Northern Ireland, AN IRISH GOODBYE is a black comedy following the reunion of estranged brothers Turlough (Seamus O'Hara) and Lorcan (James Martin) after the untimely death of their mother (Michelle Fairley, GAME OF THRONES). Under the watchful eye of oddball parish priest Father O'Shea (Paddy Jenkins), the brothers' pained reunion is worsened by the fact Turlough must now make new care arrangements for Lorcan, who has Down syndrome. A robust and dedicated farmer, Lorcan's dream of continuing to work the land on which he grew up is thwarted when Turlough decides he's sending him to live with their aunt on the other side of Ireland. But when the brothers discover an unfulfilled bucket list belonging to their late mother, Lorcan senses an opportunity: he'll only agree to leave the farm once he and Turlough have completed every single wish on their mother's list… all 100 of them. DIR/SCR/PROD Tom Berkeley, Ross White; PROD Pearce Cullen, Sean A Murray. Ireland/UK, 2021, color, 23 min. NOT RATED

About the Norman Houston Short Film Award
The Norman Houston Short Film Award is part of The Norman Houston Project, a new initiative spearheaded by Solas Nua and dedicated to the memory of Norman Houston, the former director of the Northern Ireland Bureau in the United States. The Norman Houston Short Film Award is an annual honor for the best new short film created by a filmmaker based in or from Northern Ireland, made within the previous two years. Houston's daughter Chloe and son Connor will attend the presentation ceremony at this year's Capital Irish Film Festival, joining Solas Nua in the celebration of the award winner and in honoring Norman's life, career and distinguished contribution to the arts in Ireland. For more info, visit www.solasnua.org/news/announcing-norman-houston-project

Followed by:

HERE BEFORE
Acclaimed British actress Andrea Riseborough (BIRDMAN, MANDY, POSSESSOR) stars in this tense and haunting thriller about motherly love, grief and obsession. When a new family moves in next door to Laura (Riseborough), their young daughter, Megan, quickly captivates her, stirring up painful memories of her own daughter, Josie, who died several years previously. Before long, Laura's memories turn to obsession as Megan's unsettling behavior begins to convince her of something supernatural. As Laura's determination to get to the bottom of Megan's strange conduct becomes all-consuming, her family begins to fracture and the line between the extraordinary and the real becomes ever more obscured. HERE BEFORE opened the 2021 Galway Film Fleadh, where it took home the prize for Best International Film. (Note adapted from Galway Film Fleadh.) DIR/SCR Stacey Gregg; PROD Julia Godzinskaya, James Ashley-Turner Hall, Sophie Vickers. UK, 2021, color, 83 min. RATED R

PLAY TRAILER

No AFI Member passes accepted.