BLUE ROAD: THE EDNA O'BRIEN STORY
Sunday, March 2 • 5:15 PM • T2
Documentary Feature | Award Winner | Woman Director & Producers
Screening generously sponsored by Darlene & Patrick Meskell
In 1960, a young Irish woman named Edna O’Brien wrote a sexually frank debut novel, "The Country Girls." She became a literary sensation, writing for The New Yorker, delivering provocative interviews and authoring screenplays. Her success enraged her writer husband and made her a pariah in her native Ireland, where her books were banned and burned. She made her home in London, where she conducted numerous love affairs, hosted star-studded parties and both made and lost a fortune. In July 2024, Edna passed away; this film provides a final testimony from her, aged 93, as she reflects upon her extraordinary life for filmmaker Sinéad O’Shea’s camera, with additional perspectives offered by Gabriel Byrne, Walter Mosley and an array of renowned writers. Granting the director access to her personal journals — read aloud in the film by the Oscar®-nominated Irish actress Jessie Buckley — Edna does not shy away from any subject. BLUE ROAD is as candid, dark and enchanting as O’Brien’s wonderful novels.
DIR/SCR/PROD Sinéad O'Shea; PROD Eleanor Emptage, Claire McCabe. Ireland, 2024, color, 99 min. NOT RATED
Funded by Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland.
AWARDS: Best New Irish Feature - Cork International Film Festival
🎟 For further information regarding bookings:
Please call 301-495-6720 between M-F, 9 AM - 5:30 PM or email silverinfo@AFI.com
Sinéad O’Shea is an award-winning filmmaker and writer. Her last feature documentary, Pray for Our Sinners, premiered at TIFF 2022 and was the most attended documentary in Irish cinemas in 2023. It won the prize for Best Documentary at the Hamptons International FF and was nominated for awards at the Dublin International FF and Chicago International FF. Her debut feature documentary, A Mother Brings Her Son To Be Shot, premiered in competition at CPH:DOX 2018. She was selected as a European Female Filmmaker to watch by Screen International and has directed and produced investigative work for Al Jazeera English, BBC, Channel 4. Sinéad has also worked for many years as a journalist. She was a profile writer for Publishers Weekly and reported from Ireland for The New York Times. She continues to contribute to both NYT and The Guardian.
DINNER AND A MOVIE DEAL
Our festival partner, McGinty's Public House, has generously offered an ongoing discount from February 27 through March 2 for all CIFF ticket holders! When you dine at the restaurant, show your CIFF ticket or pass for a 10% off discount on your bill. Located just around the corner from AFI Silver Theatre, McGinty's (911 Ellsworth Dr, Silver Spring, MD 20910) is the perfect place to grab a bite to eat between screenings.
The Capital Irish Film Festival is supported by the Government of Ireland Emigrant Support Programme, Culture Ireland, Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland, Embassy of Ireland, Northern Ireland Bureau, Northern Ireland Screen, and the Irish Film Institute’s IFI International Programme supported by Culture Ireland. Solas Nua is supported by the DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities.
