Out NOW
68 CinÉireann / April 2018
Apr 6
Michael
Inside
Making
the Grade
Irish documentary filmmaker Ken Wardrop’s returns with his latest feature Making the Grade.
Wardrop’s signature style once again shines through in these heart-warming and life-affirming tales of students and their beloved piano teachers.
Making the Grade invites us into the world of the piano lesson. Every year teachers and students throughout Ireland prepare for graded musical exams. These exams can be pleasing for some but daunting for others. Each student has their own particular goal but reaching Grade Eight is considered a pinnacle. This endearing and uplifting documentary explores the bond between piano teachers and their pupils as they struggle through these grades. This is a story of the transformative power of music and the pride and happiness it provides both the students and teachers. It may inspire us all to keep making the grade.
Making the Grade is directed by Ken Wardrop and produced by Andrew Freedman. It is a Reel Arts film funded by the Arts Council. The film played the 2017 Audi Dublin International Film Festival under its original title The Piano Lesson.
Written and directed by Frank Berry, Michael Inside stars Dafhyd Flynn, Moe Dunford and Lalor Roddy and tells the story of Michael McCrea, an impressionable 18-year-old living with his grandfather Francis in a Dublin housing estate, who gets caught holding a bag of drugs for his friend's older brother and is sentenced to three months in prison.
Michael Inside premiered at the Galway Film Fleadh last summer where it won Best Irish Film and Dafhyd picked up the Bingham Ray New Talent Award. Since then it's been wowing audiences and critics alike. It picked up the Audience Award at the Cork International Film Festival in November and has garnered numerous five-star reviews. The film had its UK premiere at the highly regarded Glasgow Film Festival this week where received ecstatic reactions from the festival audience.
Produced by Donna Eperon, Tristan Orpen Lynch and Aoife O'Sullivan for Subotica and Write Direction Films, the film was made with funding from the Irish Film Board.
Watch trailer
Watch trailer
Apr 13