Holy Island:

Director’s statement by Robert Manson on the film

‘The main role of David is played by two actors, an idea taken from Buneal’s “The Obscure Object of Desire”. The first half is played by one actor, a sombre and melancholy performance. Then there is a change and a younger actor takes over the role for the middle and later part of the film; this character is softer, more vulnerable and compassionate. The psychological change and development of the character of David is visually emphasised by this change of actor. The actors playing the role of David do not look identical, but they come from the same part of the world and have grown up similarly. This concept highlights an exploration of the concept of the duality of the self.’

The film’s aesthetic for the black and white, lifeless harbour city of ‘Limbo’ is an allusion to Michael Powell’s ‘A Matter of Life and Death’, in which the question is asked why the sky is black and white. The answer: because there is no life there. On the screen are predominantly 4K black and white images. In key sections of the film, flickering patches of colour are inserted to represent moments when the screen, the locations and the actors come alive and rich again. Super 8mm represents past memories in those healing moments when the characters close their eyes and their lives flash before them. These are not their lives or their direct memories, but the transplanted images of a collective consciousness. Super 8mm archive footage from my father’s archive was collected for these segments of the film. This bridges the visual gaps between the past, the present and the future. We shot sections on standard 16mm to connect all formats, 4K, 16mm and 8mm.”

About David Collins (Executive Producer)

David Collins, Producer and Managing Director, is an active member of Screen Producers Ireland, the European Film Academy and ACE Producers. Notable previous feature film productions include the Oscar-winning musical ‘Once’ (2006) and ‘Eden’ (2007), for which Eileen Walsh won Best Actress at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival.

His TV productions include ‘Batchelor’s Walk’, ‘Pure Mule’, ‘Dan & Becs’ and most recently ‘The Truth Commissioner’ for the BBC. David Collins‘ most recent film productions include ‘The Ghost of Richard Harris’ (2022), which had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival and ‘My Sailor, My Love’, which had its world premiere at TIFF.

About Evan Barry (Cinematography)

Evan Barry is a Dublin-based cinematographer working in drama, feature film, music video and commercials. In 2001 he was nominated for the DIFF Young Talent Award, having won numerous awards for his short films in previous years. His feature film debut from 2022, ‘Holy Island’, was awarded Best Film at FICIMAD Madrid. He has completed two TV drama series such as the highly acclaimed ‘Vardy Vs Rooney: A Courtroom and Maxine’.

About Samson Films (Production company)

Samson Films is recognised as one of Ireland’s most successful and respected production companies, continually developing and producing talented and original films for the Irish, European and international markets. Recently, the feature film ‘Baltimore’, a thriller starring Imogen Poots and directed by Christine Molloy and Joe Lawlor, premiered at the Telluride Film Festival and later screened at the BFI London Film Festival. In 2022, the Irish-Finnish co-production ‘My Sailor My Love’, the English language debut of director Klaus Häro, had its world premiere at TIFF and the documentary ‘The Ghost of Richard Harris’, directed by Adrian Sibley for Sky Arts, had its world premiere at the Venice Biennale before being longlisted for Best Documentary at the BAFTA Film Awards. Samson Films has produced many of Ireland’s most important feature films over the last 30 years, including John Carney‘s “Once“, which won an Oscar for Best Song and the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance.

About Ballyrogan Films (Production company)

Ballyrogan Films is an artist-run film production company based in Co. Wicklow, Ireland. The company was founded in 2015 by local director Robert Manson to produce his first feature film ‘Lost in the Living’, which was developed as part of MEDIA funded ENGAGE. ‘Holy Island’ is the second feature film to be produced in recent years. This Arts Council of Ireland funded Authored Works production had its world premiere at the 66th Cork Film Festival (2021). The film has screened at festivals in India, Spain and the USA and was released in Ireland in October 2022. The recently completed experimental documentary ‘Afternoon in June’ and the featurette ‘Summer and Winter’ will be screened at festivals in 2023.

Comments on the film (selection)

‘A DRIFTING, DREAMLIKE IRISH FABLE ABOUT ESCAPE – WITH A TOUCH OF KAFKA
It’s an experimental piece, drifting and dreamlike – though it refuses to say whether it’s a good dream or a bad one – shot in black and white, with little bursts of colour Super 8.’ (Peter Bradshaw, THE GUARDIAN) [October 10, 2022]

‘ROBERT MANSON’S HOLY ISLAND AS AN EXCITING CHANGE IN IRISH CINEMA
Robert Manson has created a powerful, compelling film with Holy Island. It is at once familiar and eerie. It is reminiscent of so many Irish films made before it, but is undoubtedly and decidedly unlike anything that has come before. It has avant-garde tendencies that have been under-utilised in Irish cinema. I have no doubt that this film will be well received internationally and I sincerely hope that domestic audiences will welcome it warmly as it marks an exciting shift in the direction of Irish film.’ (Rachel Gough, FILM Ireland Online) [December 16, 2021],

‘HOLY ISLAND: AN ENIGMATIC IRISH PICARESQUE
Holy Island is at its best when it indulges in absurdity and plays imaginatively with language. It’s a sometimes playful, sometimes twisted evocation of a culture with the gift of speech, and its verbal landscape is a potent purgatory for the uncommunicative David. Manson makes a contribution to the tradition of language as a site of modern adventurism and satire, which in Ireland stretches back to Joyce and O’Brien.’ (Ruairí McCann, British Film Institute) [November 02, 2022]

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