| Irish Folk Furniture (9 min) Ireland |
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Director: Tony Donoghue
Producer: Cathal Black
Description:
Irish Folk Furniture is an animated documentary about repair and recycling in rural Ireland. In Ireland, old hand-painted furniture is often associated with hard times, poverty and a time many would rather forget. Because of this association much of the country's furniture heritage lies rotting in barns and sheds. In making this film, sixteen pieces of abandoned folk furniture were restored and returned home into daily use. Irish rural furniture is largely medieval in design and construction. The film explores the domestic and agricultural reasons for this 700-year survival. During the rise of the Celtic tiger (the economic boom of 1992-2007), the culture of local artisan furniture making, local repair and local recycling was seriously threatened by a rise in conspicuous consumerism, which made it deeply unfashionable to use traditional hand-painted furniture.This film was shot in a green and environmentally-friendly way, using local craftspeople, local narrators and cheap second-hand equipment, and only natural light was used to shoot this film.
Biography:
Before becoming a filmmaker, Tony Donoghue worked as a zoologist at London's Natural History Museum. At film school, he was horrified by the waste he saw on film shoots, especially on TV commercials with exotic locations and excessive lighting and equipment. He committed to make films with small carbon footprints. His new film Irish Folk Furniture was shot in one parish, as was A Film From My Parish - 6 Farms. Donoghue hopes to encourage local filmmaking among local subjects.
Contact Information:
Mayfly Films
e: tonydonoghue@gmail.com
w: www.thisisirishfilm.ie/trailers/irish-folk-furniture
