Kerry filmmaker Shaun O’ Connor was in attendance at the Boston Irish Film festival last month where his new short film, Pat had its world premiere.
Written by Tadhg Hickey, Pat is the story of a retired postman, played by former D’Unbelievables star Jon Kenny. Pat can’t let go of his daily routine and who still goes around the village in uniform delivering his ‘letters’.
While the whole community loves him and buys into his fantasy, his arch-nemesis Mangon, played by Jack Walsh (Killinaskully) is determined to give Pat a dose of harsh reality.
RTE TV and radio star John Creedon plays the barman who tries to referee their bitter exchanges.
“It’s very much a film about Irishness, and how a small communities can support even the most idiosyncratic of people,” said Shaun – a native of Castleisland.
The film was very well-received at the Boston event and Shaun hopes that it continues to do well in other film festivals around the world.
The Boston Irish Film Festival also played host to a number of other Irish filmmakers and actors. Pat Shortt was there to introduce ‘Garage’, which was directed by the Oscar-nominated Lenny Abrahamson.
Back home, the Cork based Shaun recently directed a pilot for a TV show called Sketch which aired on RTE 2 on St. Stephen’s night and is currently directing new sketches for RTE’s hit show Republic of Telly. He is also working on his new short film Disappear which will be released later this year.
For the genuinely interested and the downright curious: Shaun is a son of Paudie WH and Deirdre O’Connor and he’s as talented behind a guitar as he is at the creative end of a camera. You can see more of his work at www.shaunoconnor.com
