‘Down the Corner’ focuses on life in Ballyfermot in 1977
“IT WAS based on a book written by Noel McFarlane,” explains director Joe Comerford regarding his film ‘Down the Corner’, made with the Ballyfermot Arts Festival in 1977.
‘Down the Corner’ will be screened in the Ballyfermot Community Civic Centre on November 13, as the November entry for Ballyfermot-based radio station TogetherFM’s film club.
The story focuses on five Ballyfermot boys who want to raid an orchard in a more affluent suburb nearby and sell the apples they steal.
The narrative delves into how they prepare for the raid, as well as their relationships with their parents and siblings.
Joe remarks that he met up with Noel McFarlane, producer Art O’Briain, Roddy Day, and Mary Maher of the Ballyfermot Community Arts Workshop to get funding from the Dublin Corporation, RTE, and the British Film Institute, which he described as the “biggest backer.”
They hired an amateur local cast based off auditions, including Liam Weldon, who also contributed music to the film.
Challenges that arose included disagreements and divisions with people living in Ballyfermot at the time; some felt the film was true to life, others felt that it showed the area of Ballyfermot in a bad light.
Unemployment was a serious problem in the area at the time, and some citizens felt that this film may make it harder for them to get jobs.
One of the main adult actors pulled out of the project, as the church was not happy with their participation in the film; for a while, the production was shut down completely.
From then on, everybody involved in the production would get up early in the morning and wrap filming around 9 or 10 am before they could encounter any hostility from the locals.
Joe would like to thank the TogetherFM film club for organising this screening and giving people a chance to watch the film after so many years.
He would also like to point out that ‘Down the Corner’ is available to stream on the Irish Film Institute website, ifiathome.ie, for £4.99, for anyone unable to attend the screening.
Joe himself will be in attendance at the screening and will be hosting a Q & A afterwards.
