Cannes-do attitude as Paul Mescal and other stars gather in West Cork
Paul Mescal in Schull for the Fastnet Cork Film Festival. Picture: Johannes Eisele
Schull may be a small village in the south of Ireland, but in terms of star power the Fastnet Film Festival easily held its own this weekend with that other famous festival currently on in the south of France.
The Cannes comparisons even stretched to the weather, with the West Cork hotspot bathed in sunshine, as the film festival without a cinema screened dozens of short films and hosted numerous workshops and public events.
Film producer David Puttnam, actors such as Stephen Rea, Pauline McLynn and Ciarán Hinds, as well as celebrated film-score creator Stephen Warbeck were among those who strolled the busy mainstreet in Schull at the weekend.
Highlights included a discussion between Normal People star Paul Mescal and the director of the series, Lenny Abrahamson. They revealed it was the first time they’d actually talked properly about the show, as a combination of the pandemic and their own busy schedules had kept them apart since the adaptation of the Sally Rooney novel hit phenomenal success in 2020.
Sipping on pints as they reminisced – stout for Abrahamson, beer for Mescal – for the audience, it really felt like they were eavesdropping on some sort of friendly pub conversation. Mescal almost became emotional watching back one of the many incredible scenes he shared with co-star Daisy Edgar-Jones on the series.
The former Connell became an overnight star from Normal People – he’s in two films showing in Cannes at the moment – but seems to be dealing fine with his new-found fame.
“It’s definitely been an adjustment, but not necessarily in a bad way,” said the 26-year-old who revealed that switching off his social media has helped him cope. “The pandemic was also a help. As Normal People was taking off, I was shielded from it all a bit by the fact that I was just locked down with my flatmates in London. It did get a bit mad when I’d pop over to the shop, and next thing there’d be paparazzi picture appear of me buying a sausage roll!”
While Normal People was met with universal acclaim, opinions on the recent Rooney adaptation, Conversations With Friends, has been more mixed.
“It was something we kind of expected,” said Abrahamson, co-director on both shows. “It’s its own thing, and was never going to be Normal People 2.0. I’m still 100% proud of what we’ve done with it.”
The first Rooney adaptation gave Mescal to the world, while the breakout star of the new series looks set to be Cork actress Alison Oliver. The Ballintemple newcomer joined Joe Alwyn (Nick in the show) for a discussion that included an explanation of how ‘intimacy co-ordinators’ have become such an important job on film and TV sets.
The audience heard how before, any sex scenes take place, everything is carefully worked out so all the actors are comfortable in the situation. For filming, the crew is reduced to a minimum, and on Abrahamson’s sets at least, a good gender balance is an important part of the process.
“Even knowing that a conscious decision has been made about all this was great,” said Oliver, 23. “We knew we were in safe hands.”
Incidentally, the audience at the Oliver-Alwyn event had been asked to keep their questions focused on the show, a strong hint not to ask the English actor about his girlfriend, Taylor Swift.
And for all the international star power in the village, the biggest event of the weekend had Schull honouring one of its own. Fergus O'Farrell is the subject of a documentary entitled Breaking Out, which was screened on Sunday evening in the local park, followed by a gig from the late singer's band Interference and various special guests.
