A north Dublin filmmaker has just finished her debut short, which was shot on location in Rush, Lusk and Skerries.
Patricia Kelly (46) hosted a joint screening on Wednesday to launch her 11-minute drama, entitled When Possible, Take a U Turn.
The story follows court transcriber Maggie, who is in a slump after breaking up with her girlfriend Leah, and becomes over-involved in a case to find justice for the victim.
Patricia, who lives in Rush, told Dublin Gazette: “I love the idea that a character that is something of an invisible nobody in her real life could have the opportunity to become an everyday superhero while the world sleeps.
“I also knew this was the right story to develop as my first film because it works so well as a self-contained short but has so much potential for feature film or TV.”
The cast includes Catskin star Faye Sewell, Johanna Thea and Kaylie Blue, and the film was shot along the Fingal coast across three days, mostly at night, on a €10k budget.
Director of photography Jaro Waldeck said: “One of the challenges of working on this project was the uncooperative Irish weather.
“The short film has a very modern feel, and speaks to young audiences navigating their relationships, as well as those that seek excitement and suspense.”
Patricia, who began her creative arc as an actor, said the storyline for the film formed in her head when she took on a side gig to her legal PA job as a freelance court transcriber.
She revealed that she struggled to get funding so “eventually, I figured I’d better just do it myself” via a bank loan.
She added: “Being a low-budget indie filmmaker requires an enormous amount of multi-tasking and triple-jobbing at times.
“But I’m happy with how it turned out.”
Patricia has been well and truly bitten by the filmmaking bug and is now working on a feature length screenplay of When Possible…
She is currently directing and producing a short documentary, 38 Irish Summers, and hopes that her debut will enjoy a healthy festival run worldwide.
