Collection
The Oscar® Collection
16 items
A great short film, like a great short story, conjures worlds with clarity and economy, bringing viewers on journeys which are brief but deeply engrossing. Since the 1950s, Irish filmmakers have mastered the short film form and secured international recognition with an impressive array of awards including many Academy Award® nominations and victories. Popularly known as the Oscars, the awards are the most famous and prestigious in the entertainment industry.
This collection brings together a selection of these award-winning films – ghostly tales and pitch-black comedies, illuminating documentaries and exquisite animations – populated by an array of famous folks such as Seán O’Casey, Orson Welles, Fionnula Flanagan and Brendan Gleeson. The films, directed and written by Irish men and women, date from 1951 to 2018.
The Oscar® Collection: A Selection of Irish Academy Award® Nominated Short Films is drawn from material preserved in the IFI Irish Film Archive.
This programme is supported by the Government of Ireland through National Broadband Ireland and the Broadband Connection Points plan.
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22m 00s
When Orson Welles offers a stranger with car trouble a lift, his passenger recalls a haunting event which spooks and intrigues the driver.
The film opens as Orson Welles interrupts his filming of Othello (in which he performed alongside his old friends Micheál Mac Liammóir and Hilton Edwards) to present a ‘short story from the haunted land of Ireland’. At a crossroads in the foothills of the Dublin mountains, Welles picks up a stranger who is having car trouble. The stranger tells of an encounter a year earlier at that very same spot with a young woman and her mother who signalled for him to stop. He offered to drive them home to their house, Glennascaul, and upon arrival was invited in for a glass of whiskey. After a pleasant visit he left but upon return later that night he found the house deserted. The next day he learns that his crossroads encounter had been a ghostly one.
Return to Glennascaul is part of The Oscar® Collection: A Selection of Irish Academy Award® Nominated Short Films. It was nominated for an Academy Award® for Best Short Subject in 1953.
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44m 00s
British documentarian Paul Rotha celebrates the playwrights and players of the Abbey Theatre, the national theatre founded by W.B. Yeats and Lady Gregory in 1904. The film, made some years before the theatre moved into its present-day Abbey Street premises, tells the history through colourful reminiscences from an extraordinary line-up of Abbey stalwarts – Siobhan McKenna, Maureen Delaney, Harry Brogan, Shelah Richards and Cyril Cusack. The actors speak fondly of their time as young actors in the Abbey School of Acting and recall iconic moments in the theatre’s history such as the riots during the first run of Seán O’Casey’s The Plough and the Stars. The highlight of the film is an intimate and humorous conversation between octogenarians Barry Fitzgerald and Seán O’Casey at O’Casey’s home in Devon.
Cradle of Genius is part of The Oscar® Collection: A Selection of Irish Academy Award® Nominated Short Films. It was nominated for an Academy Award® for Best Documentary Short in 1962.
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10m 00s
Louis Marcus’s observational documentary Páistí ag Obair (Children at Work) watches children learning through play in Irish Montessori schools in the 1970s.
A voiceover, in both Irish and English, explains the Montessori method which celebrates the importance of play in developing children’s potential. Children are seen in classrooms playing with Montessori materials which promote reasoning and judgement. These charming sequences are accompanied by jaunty jazz music from French flautist Raymond Guiot.
The three schools featured in Páistí ag Obair are Tigh na nÓg, Blessington; St Kieran’s School, Bray; and The Children’s House, Stilllorgan.
Páistí ag Obair is part of The Oscar® Collection: A Selection of Irish Academy Award® Nominated Short Films, along with another of Marcus’s documentaries Conquest of Light. It was nominated for an Academy Award® for Best Documentary Short in 1973.
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11m 00s
Conquest of Light celebrates the process, expertise, and craftsmen at the Waterford Glass factory in Ireland.
Through stunning and vibrant cinematography, Louis Marcus examines the mesmerising construction of clear crystal glass pieces created by the craftsmen of Waterford. The process from the intense heat of the furnace to glass blowing, shaping, cutting, honing, filling and finishing is all depicted in this celebration of the art of creation of Waterford Glass.
Conquest of Light was nominated for an Academy Award® for Best Live Action Short in 1976. It is part of The Oscar® Collection and The Louis Marcus Collection.
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6m 00s
This short animated film offers a bedtime story told with a very modern twist on the classic tale of Sleeping Beauty.
Granny O’Grimm begins to tell the story of ‘Sleeping Beauty’ to her sleepy granddaughter but there is a twist. The classic fairy–tale is told with a 21st century sensibility as Granny reimagines the story and terrifies the child in the process. In her retelling, the Elderly Fairy is not invited to Beauty’s christening because she is deemed less beautiful than the younger, more glamorous fairies. She exacts her revenge on a society obsessed with youth and beauty in this humorous and thought-provoking cautionary tale.
Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty is part of The Oscar® Collection: A Selection of Irish Academy Award® Nominated Short Films. It was nominated for an Academy Award® for Best Animation Short Film in 2010.
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27m 00s
Overwhelmed by grief following the death of his wife, Donnelly (Brendan Gleeson) shares a train carriage home with a troubled young man identified only as the ‘Kid’ (Rúaidhrí Conroy). As the Kid becomes more agitated and foul-mouthed, the journey takes on a violent and dangerous hue – for the bereaved Donnelly and for other hapless passengers on the train.
Not for the faint of heart, playwright Martin McDonagh’s film debut features his characteristically savage dark humour, and the profanity and violence which would surface in his later critically acclaimed feature films In Bruges, Seven Psychopaths and the Oscar® winning Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.
Six Shooter is part of The Oscar® Collection: A Selection of Irish Academy Award® Nominated Short Films. It won the Academy Award® for Best Live Action Short Film in 2005.
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30m 00s
The Shore is the inspiring story of two boyhood best friends – Joe (Ciarán Hinds) and Paddy (Conleth Hill) – divided by 25 years of misunderstanding.
When the world and their friendship is shattered by the conflict escalating in Northern Ireland, the two boys’ lives take very different paths until, 25 years later, Joe returns for the first time to his homeland with his 24-year-old daughter, Patricia. In his absence, Paddy, his best friend, has married Joe’s former fiancée Mary. What happened all those years ago? Can old wounds be healed? The answer is hilarious and moving in equal parts.
Shot on the beautiful County Down coast, the film uses stunning cinematography to portray the incredible natural beauty of the location. The two-time Oscar-nominated director, Terry George, used the best local acting talent and a world-renowned crew to bring to life this compelling human story of divided friendship, misunderstanding and eventual reconciliation.
The Shore is part of The Oscar® Collection: A Selection of Irish Academy Award® Nominated Short Films. It won the Academy Award® for Short Film (Live Action) in 2012.
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15m 00s
In 1970s Belfast, two boys discover the facts of life with help from their two pet chickens.
James and Malachy are over the moon when their father brings home two baby chicks which they name Boogaloo and Graham. The chicks grow and the boys proudly carry them wherever they go. They declare themselves vegetarian and dream of running their own chicken farm where Boogaloo and Graham will be happiest. Little do they know that big changes are coming to the family very soon.…
Boogaloo and Graham is part of The Oscar® Collection: A Selection of Irish Academy Award® Nominated Short Films. It was nominated for an Academy Award® Best Live Action Short Film in 2012.
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16m 00s
Michael Creagh’s quirky drama about an 8-year-old boy and his infatuation with his teacher.
Eight-year-old Ardal has a romantic heart and a passionate crush on his second-class teacher, Ms Purdy. But his dreams of marrying his love are dashed when she becomes engaged to her boyfriend, who Ardal deems entirely unacceptable. Inspired by his favourite western movies, he decides that his only course of action is to challenge his rival to a duel. An entertaining and surprising story of young love.
The Crush is part of The Oscar® Collection: A Selection of Irish Academy Award® Nominated Short Films. It was nominated for an Academy Award® for Best Short Film (Live Action) in 2011.
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17m 16s
Yeats Country is a lyrical film commissioned by the Department of Foreign Affairs to commemorate the centenary of the birth of William Butler Yeats.
The first film made by cinematographer and director Patrick Carey in Ireland, this documentary celebrates the landscape of Yeats’s poetry through stunning photography and a voiceover rich in poetry and in biographical detail narrated by Tom St. John Barry. Evocative images of the west of Ireland illustrate the poet’s life including: Thoor Ballylee Castle where he lived; Coole Park, home of Lady Gregory where literary figures of the period socialised; Lissadell House; Knocknarea Mountain; the slopes of Ben Bulben; the waterfall at Glencar; and finally, Yeats’s grave at Drumcliffe.
Yeats Country is part of The Oscar® Collection: A Selection of Irish Academy Award® Nominated Short Films. It was nominated for an Academy Award® for Best Documentary Short in 1965.
With kind permission of the Department of Foreign Affairs.
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17m 00s
In Irish legend, Oisín, son of Celtic warrior Fionn Mac Cumhaill, was a warrior, a bard and a poet.
This lyrical film opens with a quotation from Irish mythology where Oisín describes Irish birdsong as ‘the sweetest in the world’ and urges us to ‘stop and listen!’ What follows is a stunning, non-narrated depiction of Irish birds, animals and landscapes.
Oisín was commissioned by the Department of Land of Ireland as a contribution to the European Conservation Year.
Oisín is part of The Oscar® Collection: A Selection of Irish Academy Award® Nominated Short Films It was nominated for an Academy Award® for Best Documentary Short in 1971. This film is part of The Patrick Carey Collection.
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4m 20s
Give Up Yer Aul Sins humorously animates original audio recordings of Dublin schoolchildren made by their teacher Peg Cunningham in the 1960s. In the short film, a documentary crew arrives to record the activities of the classroom. The teacher chooses little Mary to retell, in her own imaginative way, the bible story of John the Baptist.
Thirty years earlier the boys and girls of children of Rutland Street National School were filmed by Father Jack Delaney. They can be seen in the short, silent amateur film Gloucester Street.
Give Up Yer Aul Sins is part of The Oscar® Collection: A Selection of Irish Academy Award® Nominated Short Films. It was nominated for an Academy Award® for Best Animated Short in 2001.
With kind permission of Brown Bag Films.
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11m 00s
Most children have enough to be worried about on their first day at school, but young African boy Joseph is different from all the other pupils. His arrival attracts the unwanted attention of teacher’s pet Hazel and kings of the playground Christian and Seth.
Adapted from a Roddy Doyle short story, New Boy brings the audience to Joseph’s level on his nerving-wracking first day as he tries to navigate the unfamiliar culture and strange rules of an Irish primary school. Joseph’s new environment is cold and dull in comparison to his home, as his tragic past unfolds in brightly coloured flashbacks. Despite a rocky start, Joseph does find some common ground with his classmates and the future begins to look a little brighter.
Steph Green has subsequently directed the feature film Run and Jump and acclaimed television series including The Americans and Scandal, and received an Emmy nomination in 2020 for her work on Watchmen.
New Boy is part of The Oscar® Collection: A Selection of Irish Academy Award® Nominated Short Films. It was nominated for the Academy Award® for Best Live Action Short Film in 2009.
This film is part of F-Rated: Short Films by Irish Women.
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17m 00s
Shortly after the nuclear Chernobyl disaster in 1986, a father risks his life and returns to his deserted apartment to retrieve his front door.
A family’s world is thrown into turmoil when they are suddenly forced to vacate their apartment block close to the site of the nuclear power plant explosion. They escape the exclusion zone safely, leaving behind all their belongings. However, tragedy follows when their daughter falls ill from the radiation. The father returns to their home under cover of darkness to retrieve his front door – a seemingly bizarre act that reveals itself to be part of a poignant ritual.
Juanita Wilson’s film is based on a memoir by Belarusian journalist Svetlana Alexievich. This adaptation relies little on dialogue but creates mood and authenticity through the film’s locations (Pripyat and Kiev, Ukraine) the use of local actors, and the cinematographer’s sombre, muted palette. The Door is a spare, masterfully crafted work which deservedly secured much praise.
The Door is part of The Oscar® Collection: A Selection of Irish Academy Award® Nominated Short Films. It was nominated for an Academy Award® for Best Short Film in 2010.
This film is part of F-Rated: Short Films by Irish Women.
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10m 00s
In this delicately rendered animation, Emily, an elderly woman with dementia, vividly relives her memories.
Sitting comfortably in her armchair Emily (voiced by Fionnula Flanagan) takes a cup of tea and a biscuit when a simple mishap triggers a pleasant journey into the past. She swims through the memories of being a child on a beach, a young woman in a lover’s embrace and a young mother concerned for her little girl.
Inspired by writer/director Louise Bagnall’s two grandmothers, this is a poignant celebration of ordinary lives.
Late Afternoon is part of The Oscar® Collection: A Selection of Irish Academy Award® Nominated Short Films. It was nominated for an Academy Award® for Best Animated Short Film in 2019.
A complementary behind-the-scenes video of Late Afternoon is also available as part of F-Rated: Short Films by Irish Women.
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3m 00s
A bloodied soldier, Sergeant Cray, wakes from death to a desolate landscape furnished only with a series of televisions and video players. Armed with his gun, he trudges from one TV to the next where he encounters a series of upbeat messages about an infinite future in the tranquil realms of heaven, purgatory and hell.
This bitterly comic slice of existential angst is crafted with economy, delivering a memorable portrait of despair in a scant 3 minutes. Irish film director/writer Ruairí Robinson is best known for his science fiction themed shorts.
Fifty Percent Grey is part of The Oscar® Collection: A Selection of Irish Academy Award® Nominated Short Films. It was nominated for an Academy Award® for Short Film (Animated) in 2001.