Sun shines in Schull as Fastnet Film Festival brings star power to West Cork 

Stars and industry figures mingled with aspiring filmmakers and movie fans in the village over the five-day event 

Film director Brendan Canty pictured in Schull for the Fastnet Film Festival with Lorraine Hogan and Ayla Amano. Picture: Larry Cummins

The comparisons to Cannes come easily on a sunny weekend in Schull as at the Fastnet Film Festival sees the West Cork village become the centre of the Irish movie world. And while Schull may have the stars, the weather and the beautiful sea-side views, one equivalent doesn’t have with the concurrent French event is the fuss.

‘The world’s friendliest film festival’ takes place in a hugely-relaxed environment, with big names strolling unbothered along the main street, and a sense that all concerned are here because they genuinely enjoy it.

One local star not in Schull this weekend is Cillian Murphy, who celebrates his 50th birthday on Monday, and was recently spotted on a Greek island filming his new movie with Daniel Craig. Hugely respected among his Irish peers, two of the nation’s top directors present did pay tribute to the Ballintemple native as he reached his half-century.

Fellow Cork man John Crowley directed Murphy in one of his first film roles, Intermission, back in 2003. “Cillian was always a guy with huge integrity and seriousness about the work,” Crowley told the Irish Examiner.

Lenny Abrahamson – the director of such films as Room, and the Normal People TV series – was also fulsome in his praise of the half-centenarian. “We should be incredibly proud of him. I've watched his work with great admiration and I’d love to work with him at some point in the future,” said Abrahamson, who is hands-on in Schull helping with the organisation of the festival, and hosting some of the panel discussions.

“He’s an intelligent, soulful actor who's able to inhabit the parts that he plays and he has that extraordinary ability to hold the screen, which not everybody has. Even really interesting actors don't always have that other thing, which ultimately is star quality.”

Directors Lenny Abrahamson and John Crowley in conversation at the Harbour Hotel during the Fastnet Film Festival in Schull. Picture: Larry Cummins

 

Both Abrahamson and Crowley spent part of Saturday afternoon in a fascinating public discussion at the Harbour Hotel about their experiences in the industry. 

The Cork director gave insight into how he gently coaxed performances from emerging stars such as Andrew Garfield, who did Boy A in 2007 as a 23-year-old, before the actor-director duo were reunited on We Live In Time in 2024; and Saoirse Ronan, who he worked with on Brooklyn (2015).

Among the international heavy-hitters in Schull at the weekend was Frank Miller, the comic-book legend who also helped adapt his own work for innovative films Sin City and 300. The 69-year-old had heard about the Fastnet festival through a chat with Cork colourist Ellie Wright at a comics convention and took to the stage following the screening of the American Genius documentary about his work and life.

American comics and film legend Frank Miller on stage at the Harbour Hotel in Schull. Picture: Larry Cummins

Jessica Alba speaks in the film about approaching Miller on the set of Sin City as she wasn’t enthused about the way her character Nancy was being portrayed as such a victim. “She was right, and the whole plot got changed,” Miller revealed in Schull of on-the-fly changes that meant the hasty creation of new costumes and a rewriting of parts of the script of the much-lauded film. “Jessica had let herself be swallowed by that character, and was fighting for the character's dignity, which is just what Nancy would do, and so it shows. I had to listen to Nancy.” 

Miller also stayed around on Sunday to lead a colourist masterclass. As well as the festival masterclasses and discussions on subjects such as the impact of AI, more than 120 films – many of them short-form – were screened in the village during the event.

Other notable figures in Schull over the past few days included actors Robert Sheehan and Niamh Algar, Oscar-winning producer Ed Guiney of Element Pictures, and local resident David Puttnam, the British producer who has made huge efforts to contribute to the artistic and social fabric of his adopted home.

Another highlight was a concert on Thursday at the Holy Trinity church of the music of regular Schull visitor Stephen Warbeck, who gathered an ensemble of top-class musicians to play parts of his scores from films such as Shakespeare In Love and Captain Corelli’s Mandolin.

Overall, another fine festival in Schull. You can’t help but feel that those in Cannes – and even birthday boy Cillian in Corfu – were the ones missing out.

Out and about in Schull 

At the Fastnet Film Festival in Schull, Co Cork, were Shannon Cotter, Anna Kitty O'Connor, and Niamh Cremin. Pictures: Larry Cummins

Ríon O'Mahony, Amy Bogue and Sarah Jessica Dunne at the Palace Cinema (the Harbour Hotel) for the discussion between John Crowley and Lenny Abrahamson.

Frank Miller signs autographs in Schull. 

Rachel O'Donovan, Fionn O'Leary, and Eileen O'Donovan in Schull. 

Sophie Lynch and Sylvia Linehan at the Fastnet Film Festival.

Helen Collis, Siobhán Jeffery,  and Elaine Kennedy at the Fastnet Film Festival.

Jessica Bermingham and Thomas Beug relax outside the 'Carlton', aka Hackett's Bar.