Shortfilm ’Father Brennan Is Having a Breakdown’

LUKE Faulkner is a Templeogue-born filmmaker, photographer and musician.

Luke studied photography at IADT, Dun Laoghaire, winning the 2018 Inspirational Arts Award with his experimental grad film, alongside a showing in The Library Project and later the 2022 PhotoIreland festival.

In 2021 he co-directed and edited ‘Shame // Less’, a queer experimental feature about gay sauna culture, which was shown at the 2021 GAZE film festival and the 2022 Galway Film Fleadh.

He has edited three queer documentary shorts for artist Pradeep Madeshwar and has had work exhibited far and wide, from the Ballina Arts Centre to The East Village Film Festival in New York.

Luke’s passion for music has seen him collaborate visually with many Irish musicians, he also makes his own music under the guise PureGrand, releasing his debut album in 2022.

Luke’s practice spans a wide range of visual mediums and disciplines. His work is informed by 20th-century media and technology and is influenced by popular culture.

He combines his past with current trends, topics and ideas to create a unique blend of old and new.

This week, we sat down with Luke to discuss his new project ‘Father Brennan Is Having a Breakdown’, a queer short film written by Denny Redmond, which will feature as part of this year’s GAZE International Film Festival from July 29 to August 4.

This festival will be taking place at the Light House Cinema and Irish Film Institute.

What inspired you to get into filmmaking?

I’ve always been obsessed with all things visual media, anything involving a camera.

I’m very much of the DVD generation, and that explosion of behind-the-scenes content at the time was fascinating for me and I think really inspired my decision to want to work in that field.

I received my first camcorder when I was ten years old and convinced my sister and friends to participate in many “experimental” productions.

As I approached college, I sidled more into photography, and that’s what I studied, but I think the all-encompassing and team-based approach to film came more naturally to me, so much so that my graduate project ended up being a documentary rather than a photo project.

Is there a preference between producing film or music for you?

I think music requires a lot more self-motivation, especially for me, as I do all of the production and visuals myself; you put a lot of yourself and your time into the work, and the scene is very hard to crack.

I think the rise of streaming has made it much more accessible to put your own music out there, but it’s also made it much more competitive, and the industry doesn’t do artist development like they used to; they expect you to be fully formed with a rake of followers.

With music I’m the sole focus, whereas with film there is a much bigger sense of camaraderie and support, and the focus is always on the project. So at the moment I think film is the main drive for me.

I love making music, and it is something I’ll continue to do, but more on my own terms. Also, at 29 I’m not getting any younger, and the scene is very youth-orientated!

How did you first learn about ‘Father Brennan’? Did Denny reach out to you, or did you contact him first?

Denny contacted me! He is a good friend and a very talented actor/writer (he stars as Fr Brennan in the film).

He has written for theatre but wanted to branch out into film and knew that I wanted to move from the non-fiction stuff I was making into proper narrative cinema, so it was just good timing!

We met up in October last year, where he presented me with the script, and with a lot of planning, preparation and a credit union loan, we managed to get the whole thing shot in January and edited/submitted to GAZE by early March, so a lightning-fast turnaround!

Would you consider this to be one of your favourite projects you have worked on so far? If so, why/why not?

It was honestly a dream to work on!

The principal photography went so smoothly, and I was uncharacteristically chill throughout.

We had great help from Sinead, our intimacy coordinator, to bring a sense of realism. Adam (who plays Richard) and Denny really elevated the script, and, as a novice with directing actors, they and Flavia – our first AD – were very patient with me.

What was nice about the crew was the mix of genders and ages; our lighting and camera team consisted of guys with plenty of industry experience alongside some who were still in film school.

I personally loved getting to work on the production design of the project, which is set in 1997.

Getting to research and pick out clothes, wallpaper and props to bring it to life was very up my street, and it was really rewarding seeing how it looked on camera.

It must be a huge honour to have your work showcased in a festival on this scale! Did you ever anticipate your work would make as much of an impact as it has?

We are very honoured to debut at GAZE. It’s a film festival that I’ve been attending annually since college and was always our goal when devising the film.

The festival is like an oasis of the best Irish queer talent, a great chance to meet up with old friends and, honestly, where I discover most queer cinema!

I think this year especially is really important, as worldwide and in Ireland we’ve seen a backwards shift, and a lot of LGBTQ+ organisations and spaces are seeing support withdrawn and increasing backlash from both the far right and conspiracy theorists online, so support for this touchstone of queer Dublin culture is so important!

What is next for you after this?

In terms of film, due to our very successful and fruitful partnership, I and Denny both have scripts each that we want to develop next; he has a potential follow-up to Fr Brennan set directly in its aftermath, and I’ve been developing an ensemble piece revolving around a Dublin gay men’s health clinic.

Regarding music, I’ve just put out a new single called Seven Up. It is a synthy Hi-NRG inspired dance song, which is the first single off my new album!

Who would you like to thank for helping you with this film?

The entire crew were instrumental in translating the script to such a high standard, some of whom, especially Daniel and all of the camera/lighting guys, were generous enough to lower their usual rates to help a tiny film like ours!

Big shout out to comedy queen Justine Stafford, who came in to record audio-only lines for an essential character, which elevated the whole film, and to my friend and fellow filmmaker Eleanor Rogers, who acted basically as a mentor from inception to the final edit!

I want to thank my father Declan, who provided fabulous catering for the crew and whose homemade bread got to make a cameo in the final film!