Screening of the Miracle Club very ‘poignant’

“The screening went very well and was poignant, as some of the neighbours from Ballyfermot attended,” states Ballyfermot-born actor and screenwriter Jimmy Smallhorne when asked about the screening for his film ‘The Miracle Club’, which was screened at the Ballyfermot Civic Centre last week.

This screening was organised by the film club for Ballyfermot radio station TogetherFM; this club meets up every month to screen films for free, so readers are encouraged to check it out if they haven’t already.

Jimmy attended the event and estimates that “well over 100” people enjoyed the film.

Regarding the Q&A that followed, he explains that people wanted to know the inspiration for the film, how it got made, and what the next project is.

Jimmy described the day as “very special” and “moving” for him, and he was “very happy” to share with people that he grew up with in Ballyfermot.

In a previous interview with The Echo before the event, Jimmy stated that as a filmmaker, he has felt working-class culture and women in particular were rarely depicted on screen with the complexity that he experienced growing up, which is what inspired the film; “Mothers who raised my generation had to be doctors, economists, cooks, mediators, enforcers and comforters amongst a myriad of roles required to raise families of 8, 10, 12 and even 15 children.”

He fondly remembered highlights of the production, including watching Maggie Smith, Cathy Bates and Laura Linney recreate the women from Ballyfermot.

Although because of budgetary reasons they couldn’t recreate Ballyfermot in the film and had to create a fictitious street, “ultimately the essence of the women was embedded in the characters that these Academy Award-winning actresses created.”

The next project that he wants to make is a film called the ‘Make Up Party,’ which is about a group of working-class swimmers having a make-up party where conflicts arise and secrets are revealed.

Jimmy would like to thank the neighbours of his street for the inspiration for the film, but this film took over 20 years to get made, and “there were a lot of people who helped to get it done.

“Especially Joan Allen, the actress who was a very early supporter.”