• You Can’t Be What You Can’t See: Films About Real Women

    March 6, 2018 - By 

    When it comes to women in film, lasting progress has been slow. While it is positive that the two highest grossing films internationally in 2017 had female protagonists, more work remains to be done both in front of and behind the camera. Promoting the visibility of women onscreen ultimately means telling stories that recognise the complicated and messy lives that actual women lead. Here, there is still some distance to go. Research by the Center for Women in Television and Film at San Diego State University identified that film audiences in 2017 were twice as likely to see a male…

  • Never Judge a Book by its Cover: A Conversation with Maura McHugh

    March 6, 2018 - By 

    Maura McHugh is a writer based in the West of Ireland, predominantly working in comic books, prose (fiction and non-fiction) and works for the stage and screen. She recently made history by signing on as one of the first official writers of the upcoming all female special of 2000AD, the renowned British comic book series and dwelling of the indomitable Judge Dredd. She talks to Loreana Rushe about her work, female heroes and diversity in the comic book industry. What do you enjoy most about writing comics and how did you get into the industry? I love working with artists. That collaborative process, when…

  • Women’s Work 2018 Announced

    March 6, 2018 - By 

    Belfast’s Oh Yeah Music Centre has announced details for its third annual Women’s Work. Launching in acknowledgement of the centenary year of the Representation of The People Act 1918, organisers of the festival said that the artwork – which is designed by Belfast-based Illustrator Fiona McDonnell – “incorporates the colours and tone of what became a milestone event in the in the fight for democratic equality, which is still being fought today around the world in different forms. Established with the aim to celebrate and highlight the contribution that women make to music, the festival launched in 2016, and boasted a schedule including…

  • Tracy Bruen – Finding a Voice

    March 6, 2018 - By 

    It’s 1994 and I am 12. From a very early age I learn that it is not a good thing to raise one’s head above the parapet. I ask the right questions when the priest visits the school. I give the right-rote-learned answers. I conform. I wear a uniform. I go to mass. I dress in white to receive the body of Christ. I confess my sins and say three hail Marys and one Glory Be. I watch the abortion videos in home ec class. I strongly debate on the anti choice side of a debate on abortion in school.…

  • Dublin Film Fest: The Breadwinner

    March 6, 2018 - By 

    Cartoon Saloon make stories about the value of making stories. In the first solo feature from the Kilkenny animation studio, The Secret of Kells (2009), the stories are those of myth and faith ferried by the Book of Kells, diligently reproduced by illuminators under siege from Nordic barbarians. In Song of the Sea (2014), the narratives are personal, a coastal family working through the loss of a wife and mother, using musical notes as form of memory preservation. Saloon’s third feature, The Breadwinner, due for release this May, blends the private and the public, shifting out of the studio’s Celtic…

  • Wading in Shallow Waters – Louise Cunnane of Lilac Glass

    March 8, 2018 - By 

    I’m in a small town in County Mayo and I’m pregnant. Now let’s not get too excited. I’m 28. I just left Dublin and I am briefly staying at my parents house before I move to London. I’m a musician and the last few months have been a bit of a whirlwind. There’s managers and labels and producers getting in touch. My EP is out. I have just put a band together and we are getting ready to play our first show. I can’t have a baby. It’s not the right time for me. I refuse to buy a test…

  • Premiere: Agu – Ines

    March 6, 2018 - By 

    Originally from Poland, Agu is a Galway-based artist whose music embraces a variety of languages and musical influences. Premiered here, her new single ‘Ines’ is a wistful and nuanced confessional ode striking a midpoint between indie-folk, solo post-rock and ambient. Taken from her forthcoming new album – the Tony Higgins-produced follow-up 2015’s Ke Světlu (Towards the Light) – Agu has said of the single: “It reflects a period of my life that changed everything. It is about realising you are suffocating even though you don’t have to. All you need to do is to spread your wings and try to fly. Leave…

  • Red Sparrow

    March 6, 2018 - By 

    Based upon the book of the same name by ex-CIA agent Jason Matthews, Red Sparrow is a modern-day spy thriller by director Francis Lawrence (Hunger Games: Catching Fire, I Am Legend) that harks back to the days of the cold war thrillers of the 70s/80s but fails to update it appropriately, coming across as a piece of vitriolic propaganda and little else. Jennifer Lawrence (Winter’s Bone) and the rest of the top-notch cast try their damndest to give it some credibility but the story and premise make for a predictably silly and gratuitous affair on many levels. Dominika Egorova (Lawrence)…

  • Exhibition: Gaelic Fields @ The Library Project

    March 6, 2018 - By 

    Opening today in The Library Project is Paul Carroll’s new body of work Gaelic Fields. The project is the culmination of seven years work, that saw Carroll traverse the 32 counties of the island documenting local GAA pitches. These spaces are hubs of the communities and the artist’s capturing of these local landscapes speaks of the both the societal nature of sport and its impact on the land. The work is on show from today (Tuesday 6th) with the official opening this coming Thursday (8th). The exhibition will continue until March 25th, with a book also produced, full details are available online…

  • Stream: Cherym – Take It Back

    March 5, 2018 - By 

    If you’re not already familiar with Derry threesome Cherym, you will be soon. Hannah Richardson, Nyree Porter and Lauren Kelly – who we featured as one of our 18 for ’18 acts at the start of the year – will release their debut EP, Mouth Breathers, in April. Doubling up as their debut single, the release’s lead single ‘Take It Back’ is a catchy-as-all-hell burst of punked-out noise-pop that demands an instant second listen. Take it Back by Cherym