HOUSEWIFE OF THE YEAR
Sunday, March 2 • 3:30 PM • T2
Documentary Feature | East Coast Premiere | Award Winner | Woman Producer
Screening generously sponsored by Brian Maney & Barbara Stauffer
This documentary tells the story of Ireland’s treatment of women through the prism of a unique, surreal live television competition — which has to be seen to be believed — where a generation of Irish women competed in front of a live audience for the title of “Housewife of the Year.” The former contestants share their direct experiences of marriage bars, lack of contraception, Magdalene Laundries, financial vulnerability, boredom and shame — and, of course, the competition itself. The result is a poignant, uplifting and often hilarious story of a resilient generation of women and how they changed a country.
DIR Ciaran Cassidy; PROD Maria Horgan. Ireland, 2024, color, 77 min. NOT RATED
AWARDS: Winner of Best Irish Feature Documentary - Galway Film Fleadh 2024
🎟 For further information regarding bookings:
Please call 301-495-6720 between M-F, 9 AM - 5:30 PM or email silverinfo@AFI.com
Ciaran Cassidy is an award-winning filmmaker. He is the founder and director of Little Wing Films in Dublin, Ireland – specialising in factual storytelling through cinema, TV and audio formats. His films have premiered at film festivals like Sundance, Telluride, IDFA, SXSW, and Sheffield DocFest and he is the winner of over forty international awards. Ciaran Cassidy’s second theatrical documentary ‘HOUSEWIFE OF THE YEAR’ had its world premiere at CPH:DOX in March 2024. The documentary, funded by Screen Ireland with support from RTÉ, DR, NRK and SVT, tells the story of a unique Irish cultural phenomenon, which for three decades saw women from around Ireland compete on stage for the title of Housewife of the Year.
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.
