Fintan Connolly is an Irish film director, screenwriter and producer living in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

. Much of his earlier work was in television documentaries which explored social issues in Ireland. He has also made films, including ''

Flick Flick of Flicks may refer to: Arts * Flick, slang term for film or movie **Chick flick, slang, sometimes derogatory, term for films aimed at a female audience * ''Flick'' (2000 film), Irish film * ''Flick'' (2008 film), a campy British horror ...

'' (2000), '' Trouble with Sex'' (2005), ''

Eliot & Me ''Eliot & Me'' is a 2012 Irish drama film. The plot follows the adventures of a young girl trying to find her dog in Dublin. The film is directed by Fintan Connolly and features his then 10-year-old daughter Ella Connolly in the lead role. Pl ...

'' (2012) and ''

Barber A barber is a person whose occupation is mainly to cut, dress, groom, style and shave men's and boys' hair or beards. A barber's place of work is known as a "barbershop" or a "barber's". Barbershops are also places of social interaction and publi ...

'' (2023) through his production company

Fubar Films Fubar Films is an Irish film and television production company based in Dublin, Ireland. Fubar Films has been responsible for the production of Flick, Trouble with Sex, Eliot & Me, and comedy series On the Couch. Key people in the productio ...

Career

Connolly directed the short film ''Angel on the Rocks'' in 1985. He co-produced, with Helen Fahy, the short movie ''Horse'' (1993) directed by Kevin Liddy. This film won an award for "Best European Short" at the Premiers Plan Festival in

Angers Angers (, , ) is a city in western France, about southwest of Paris. It is the prefecture of the Maine-et-Loire department and was the capital of the province of Anjou until the French Revolution. The inhabitants of both the city and the prov ...

, France in 1994. Working with co-director Hilary Dully, he worked on several television documentaries for

RTÉ (RTÉ) (; Irish language, Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the Public broadcaster, national broadcaster of Republic of Ireland, Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on RTÉ Television, telev ...

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

and

TG4 TG4 ( ga, TG Ceathair, ) is an Irish free-to-air public service television network. The channel launched on 31 October 1996 and is available online and through its on demand service TG4 Player in Ireland and beyond. TG4 was formerly known ...

. These include ''Framed!'' (1987), ''No Comment'' (1988), ''...and finally France'' (1988), ''For Better Or Worse'' (1989), ''No Comment II'' (1991), ''Notice To Quit'' (1992, rights of older tenants), '' 50,000 Secret Journeys'' (1994, abortion), and ''Comely Maidens '' (1995). As a single director, Connolly directed the documentaries ''Sisters'' (1998), ''Priests'' (1998), ''Out of Nowhere'' (2000, asylum seekers), ''Ainé's Journey'' (2000) and ''Singleton'' (2002). Connolly made his feature film directorial debut with ''

'' in 2000 in conjunction with producer

Fiona Bergin Fubar Films is an Irish film and television production company based in Dublin, Ireland. Fubar Films has been responsible for the production of Flick, Trouble with Sex, Eliot & Me, and comedy series On the Couch. Key people in the productio ...

. The film starred David Murray, Isabelle Menke,

David Wilmot David Wilmot (January 20, 1814 – March 16, 1868) was an American politician and judge. He served as Representative and a Senator for Pennsylvania and as a judge of the Court of Claims. He is best known for being the prime sponsor and eponym ...

Gerard Mannix Flynn Mannix Flynn (born Gerard Mannix Flynn, 4 May 1957) is an Irish independent politician who has served as a Dublin City Councillor since May 2009.Alan Devlin. Connolly wrote the film's script and it was shot in 18 days with no budget. ''Flick'' had its premiere at the

Cork Film Festival The Cork International Film Festival, also known as the Cork Film Festival (), is a film festival held annually in Cork City, Ireland. It was established in 1956 as part of An Tóstal An Tóstal (, meaning "The Gathering") was the name for a serie ...

in October 1999. A reviewer in the '' Sunday Independent'' said "In many ways, Fintan Connolly's first film, ''Flick'' is a breath of fresh air. We get to see Dublin on the screen – a very contemporary Dublin, too. It's about time. In ''Flick'', there are no horses in lifts. You won't spot the Chieftains playing trad on Moore Street. This is real Dublin – and what first strikes you about the film is that ''Flick'' is a love letter to Connolly's native city." In 2005, Connolly made '' Trouble with Sex'', starring

Aidan Gillen Aidan Murphy (born 24 April 1968), better known as Aidan Gillen (), is an Irish actor. He is the recipient of three Irish Film & Television Awards and has been nominated for a British Academy Television Award, a British Independent Film Award, a ...

and Renée Weldon, for which he received two

Irish Film and Television Awards Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

nominations. The film was premiered at the

Dublin International Film Festival The Dublin International Film Festival (DIFF; ) is an annual film festival held in Dublin, Ireland, since 2003. History Dublin International Film Festival was established in 2003. It was revived by Michael Dwyer, international film critic and ' ...

in February 2005. ''Trouble with Sex'' was the second feature created through a director/producer partnership between Fintan Connolly and Fiona Bergin. Connolly told the ''

Galway Advertiser The ''Galway Advertiser'' is a free newspaper distributed throughout Galway city and county each Thursday. It was the first of the regional newspapers under the "Advertiser" banner, which now also includes publications based in Athlone and Mayo ...

'' that "only 20 per cent of directors get to make a second feature, so I've been really lucky". In 2012, Connolly made ''

'', a children's adventure drama, co-written with Fiona Bergin and featuring his daughter Ella. The movie had its world premiere as the opening film at the Film Festival Zlin in May 2012. He also completed a documentary about

Aosdána Aosdána ( , ; from , 'people of the arts') is an Irish association of artists. It was created in 1981 on the initiative of a group of writers with support from the country's Arts Council. Membership, which is by invitation from current member ...

, an affiliation of Irish artists, called ''The Art Tribe''. He later made observational documentaries for

’s children's channel

RTÉjr RTÉjr is an Irish free-to-air children's television channel operated by state-owned broadcaster RTÉ. The channel mainly targets a demographic of 2- to 7-year-olds, but some cartoons for older children also air. The channel is part of RTÉ KI ...

, including ''

Zara World ''Zara World'' is an Irish documentary series, produced by Fubar Films and screened on RTÉjr. The series premiered on Monday 13 October 2014. It features a seven-year-old girl called Zara who lives with her family in Dublin city. Filmed over s ...

'' (2014), ''Circus World'' (TV series), (2016) and ''All Aboard'' (TV series) (2018). His film ''

'', with

, premiered at the 2023

Controversy

'' 50,000 Secret Journeys'', which, along with all Connolly's early documentary work, was co-directed with the documentary filmmaker Hilary Dully, is a film in which three women who had abortions tell their stories intercut with news clips recounting events in a legal struggle between pro and anti abortion campaigners. A decision to pull the film from the

schedule, on 29 March 1994, provoked strong protest from several film-makers. A statement issued by

SIPTU SIPTU (; ''Services, Industrial, Professional and Technical Union''; ga, An Ceardchumann Seirbhísí, Tionsclaíoch, Gairmiúil agus Teicniúil) is Ireland's largest trade union, with around 200,000 members. Most of these members are in the Rep ...

, on behalf of the TV producer/director and director grades, said that it was "a matter of serious concern to TV producers and directors that such a programme should be deemed unsuitable for inclusion in one of RTÉ's main current affairs programmes". An RTÉ spokesperson said the decision had been taken "for internal RTÉ reasons which we don't want to go into". The documentary was ultimately screened on RTÉ on 27 October 1994 and followed by a studio debate on abortion in Ireland chaired by

Marian Finucane Marian Finucane ( ; 21 May 1950 – 2 January 2020) was an Irish broadcaster with Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ). She began working with the national broadcaster in 1974, starting as a continuity announcer. She was the first presenter of ''L ...

Recognition

Writing on the release of Connolly's debut film, ''Flick'' (2000), Ciaran Carty in the

Sunday Tribune The ''Sunday Tribune'' was an Irish Sunday broadsheet newspaper published by Tribune Newspapers plc. It was edited in its final years by Nóirín Hegarty, who changed both the tone and the physical format of the newspaper from broadsheet to tab ...

said "What's exciting about this new crop of directors is that they've broken away from the preoccupation with theory and ideology that for so long bedeviled Irish independent film-making. They're not interested in using movies as part of an argument about the nature of Irish identity: instead they show Irish life as it is – or was – and let the audience make what they like of it. Their movies are movies, not statements or messages". Michael Dwyer, of the ''

Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

'', described ''Flick'' as "a lean, tightly coiled contemporary drama resourcefully achieved on a remarkably low budget".Dwyer, Michael (8 September 2000)

Pete Walsh, programmer at the

Irish Film Institute The Irish Film Institute (IFI; ), formerly the Irish Film Centre, is both an arthouse cinema and a national body that supports Irish film heritage. The IFI presents film festivals, retrospectives and curated seasons, along with independent, ...

, wrote that "Connolly's impressive first feature makes a welcome addition to the relatively small band of truly independent low-budget Irish films. Written by Connolly himself, and developed with producer Fiona Bergin, the finished work has a genuinely "indie" feel and a strong sense of its makers' commitment to a vision". ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...

'' referred to the films ''Flick'' and ''Trouble with Sex'' as "Irish noir fiction", saying that "Fintan Connolly's movies .depict a thoroughly noir-looking Dublin full of moody shadows and drenched in blue light, but there is no corresponding heart of darkness in the plot". Another reviewer said that ''Trouble With Sex'' "vacillates between modes of melodrama and avant-gardism, unsure what kind of film it is". Of ''Trouble with Sex'', Yvonne Hogan in

Irish Independent The ''Irish Independent'' is an Irish daily newspaper and online publication which is owned by Independent News & Media (INM), a subsidiary of Mediahuis. The newspaper version often includes glossy magazines. Traditionally a broadsheet new ...

stated that "The ennui of single thirty somethings in the newly wealthy Ireland is a field ripe for cinematic interrogation and Connolly is to be commended for grappling with it".Hogan, Yvonne (6 May 2005) 'Nothing But Trouble"

Awards and nominations

* 2005,

nomination for 'Best Director' for '' Trouble With Sex'' * 2005,

nomination for 'Best Film' for '' Trouble With Sex''

Selected filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Connolly, Fintan Irish film directors Irish screenwriters Irish male screenwriters Living people Year of birth missing (living people)