CinÉireann November 2017 | Page 20

2017 feels like a defining year for Irish filmmaker Pat Collins. His latest film, the critically acclaimed Song of Granite has been submitted as the Irish entry for the best foreign language feature for next year’s Academy Awards. There is the not so small matter of shortlisting but even still this feels like a potential breakthrough for Collins.

Not that he seems particularly interested in acclaim or awards (although recognition should in theory make it easier to get films made). Written by Collins, Eoghan Mac Giolla Bhride and Sharon Whooley Song of Granite tells the story about the life of folk singer Joe Heaney and is shot in beautiful black and white by Richard Kendrick. This being a Pat Collins film there is both narrative and documentary elements to it.

But for anyone who has followed Collins over the last few years (and you really should have been) none of this acclaim or recognition should be a surprise. Collins is not some overnight success. He has been toiling away on superb films for quite some time. On the eve of the release of Song of Granite it is worth taking a look at his three previous features to see what we can learn about the preoccupations and themes of one of Ireland’s great filmmakers.

20 CinÉireann / November, 2017

Pat Collins

Tim Robinson: Connemara

By Jason Coyle