This boy’s colourful last days

Ian Fitzgibbon takes a break from Moone Boy to tell Pádraic Killeen about his new tale of a tragic teenager who turns to animation

HAVING acted in Father Ted and Ballykissangel, Dubliner Ian Fitzgibbon has blossomed into one of Ireland’s foremost film and TV directors. His resumé includes RTÉ hits Paths to Freedom and Showbands, as well as impressive films like Perrier’s Bounty and A Film with Me in It.

A recurring element of Fitzgibbon’s work is absurdist black comedy. Yet while that tendency is not absent in his new film, Death of a Superhero, it has a more sensitive narrative than the oddball films that have been Fitzgibbon’s bread and butter.