Film looks to highlight brighter side of working class community
THE SCREENING of ‘Blind Man’s Bluff’, a movie produced by and featuring the community of Ballyfermot, took place at the Lighthouse Cinema on Tuesday, March 29.
The short film is the brainchild of filmmaker and producer Paul Ritchie, who grew up in Ballyfermot and attended Kylemore College, and is produced by Hour Hearts Productions, who work independently with youth in troubled areas effected by anti-social behaviour.
“We started out our production company, Hour Hearts Productions, to basically get some of the youth off the street, we wanted to go out and talk to them and be respectful of them,” said Paul.
“We want them to get into acting, writing movies, music – whatever they can do.”
The short film was shot over the space of three days back in September in Ballyfermot and features two young new emerging talents from the area.
Cillian Byrne (12) plays Steo, a young lad from Ballyfermot who always seems to be in trouble and Dominic Berry (13) a member of the traveling community who plays Johnny, a calm boy who is always misled by Steo.
Veteran actor Richard Mason stars in the film as Gerry, a well-respected blind man in the community. The film also features five other members of the travelling community as well as people from all ethnic, social and economic backgrounds.
The production company focuses on equality and diversity, and believe it is vital to bring a diverse cast to the audience without the stereotypes.
“We don’t want to make typical gangster type movies glamourising crime in our areas we want to show the brighter side of working-class areas in Dublin, and we’ll continue to get as many teenagers into the arts and distract them from the negative things in their areas,” said Paul.
“We made a movie with the whole community – the garda station, shops in the area, we even had people giving up their electricity in their houses.”
The movie centres around two local teenagers who are up to no good, and at the same time, three children have disappeared in the area over the course of 18 months, so the entire community is on edge, and eager to uncover who’s behind the disappearances.
The film officially premiered at the Lighthouse Cinema, and Paul, along with the co-owner of Hour Hearts Productions, Myles Maher, hope to make it into a feature film once funding is secured.
To keep up to date with progress on the film, visit the Hour Hearts Productions Facebook page.
