2020 Oscar® Selection, Ireland
Arracht [Monster]
Thursday, March 4th • Available from 9 AM ET
Followed by a recorded Q&A with filmmaker Tom Sullivan and lead actor Dónall Ó Héalai, moderated by Solas Nua Board Co-Chair Paddy Meskell.
Connemara, Ireland, 1845. Colmán Sharkey (Dónall Ó Héalaí), a fisherman, father and husband, takes in a stranger at the behest of a local priest. Patsy (Dara Devaney, FINKY, FLOAT LIKE A BUTTERFLY), a former soldier in the Napoleonic wars, arrives just ahead of “the blight,” a disease that eventually wipes out the country’s potato crop, contributing to the death and displacement of millions in the Great Famine. As the crops rot in the fields, Colmán, his brother and Patsy travel to their English landlord’s house to request a stay on rent increases that Colmán predicts will destroy his community. His request falls on deaf ears, and Patsy’s subsequent actions set Colmán on a path that will take him to the edge of survival and sanity. It is only upon encountering an abandoned young girl that Colmán’s resolve is lifted… just in time for the darkness of his past to pay another visit.
(Note adapted from Macalla Teoranta.)
Please note: This title is available to viewers located anywhere in the United States and U.S. Territories.
Generously sponsored by
David O’Brien and Maureen Dowling
Awards: Winner, Discovery Award (Dónall Ó Héalai), Best Irish Film, 2020 Dublin International Film Festival; Winner, Audience Award, 2020 Glasgow Film Festival; Winner, Best Sound, Best Original Music, 2020 Irish Film and Television Awards. Official Selection, 2019 Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival; 2020 Galway Film Fleadh.
Credits: DIR/SCR Tom Sullivan; PROD Cúán Mac Conghail. Ireland, 2019, color, 90 min. In Irish with English subtitles. NOT RATED
Cast: Dónall Ó Héalaí, Dara Devaney, Saise Ní Chuinn, Michael McElhatton, Peter Coonan, Eoin Ó Dubhghaill
