Beyond the Fire + Q&A with Director Maeve Murphy

Winner of Best International Feature 2010 at the Garden State Film Festival and Best UK Feature at the London Independent Film Festival 2009.

Beyond The Fire shows the devastating effect of religious sexual abuse. Set amongst the London Irish community, the film tells the story of Sheamy (Scot Williams), a gentle Irish ex-priest who arrives in London to find his old family friend and mentor Father Brendan. After an unsuccessful search Sheamy reaches out to the only other person he knows in London, Rory (Chris O’Neil). Rory, a talented musician and band member, takes Sheamy under his wing and introduces him to his flatmate Katie (Cara Seymour). Immediately, the attraction is undeniable between Sheamy and Katie. Katie is a warm hearted woman with her own emotional scars. Their intense romance faces a crisis when the past unexpectedly comes back to haunt them.

“Unsettling but brilliant drama”  Belfast Telegraph

“The performances of Williams and Seymour seep raw emotion.” Empire

“Heartfelt, its unironic belief in the power of love is attractive.” The Guardian

Plus Q&A with Director Maeve Murphy

Maeve Murphy was born and brought up in Northern Ireland. She studied English at Cambridge University and was the secretary of the Cambridge Footlights. Her early career was in theatre where she co-founded, co-wrote and acted for award winning theatre company Trouble and Strife. Maeve then worked at Parallax Pictures Production Company and moved into film. Maeve wrote and directed Silent Grace, which highlights the largely untold story about womens’ involvement in the 1980/1981 hungerstrikes in Northern Ireland. This won the Soka Art Award in 2004 and was released by Guerilla films. She wrote and directed Beyond The Fire which was released by Met Film with support from the UKFC in June 2009 and opened at the ICA in London.

 

A screening supported by One in Four UK