“I was born on this planet, why do I pay to exist here?” That’s one question proposed by Hossein in today’s podcast episode. Additionally, we discuss how his political asylum has affected his career as a documentary filmmaker, and dive further into a philosophical discussion, while learning more about his latest award winning film “I Am Gitxsan” which explores a recent high school graduate reconnecting with his Indigenous heritage in Hazelton, British Columbia, Canada.

Visit his production website: www.fazelifilms.com
or for his latest film “I am Gitxsan” on the web: www.iamgitxsan.com

Hossein Martin Fazeli has been an A-List director in North America for many years. He has been producing, directing, and writing fiction and non-fiction television and film for more than two decades and has extensive international experience, having worked on location in a dozen different countries.

His films have been broadcast around the world, including on CBC, BBC, ARTE, and Canal+, winning 45 international awards in the process.

Throughout the years he has collaborated with organizations such as UNDP, European Commission, and Nonviolence International on a wide range of film and television projects, including national and regional campaigns, exploring issues such as human rights, women's rights, and minority rights.

His 2007 production, "The Tale of Two Nazanins", about a teenage girl imprisoned on death row in Iran, was broadcast on major international networks such as the BBC and CNN and is credited with igniting an international campaign that saved her life.

In 2008, Fazeli was chosen by the Sundance Institute to take part in their International Filmmakers Award. He has lectured around the world on the ever changing face of film production and has held workshops with students at various educational institutions such as SFU (Canada), SOAS (UK), Aarhus University (Denmark) and the European Film Academy.
For more info, please visit: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3347515/

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https://www.youtube.com/@BreakingIndie

Ep. 13 Hossein Martin Fazel, “I Am Gitxsan”

In this Film Ireland podcast, Gemma Creagh talks to Dave Byrne, Director of Sunphlowers.

This podcast has been made possible with the support of Screen Ireland.

Set against an agricultural backdrop, Catherine finds her husband dead in one of their glasshouses. In putting his affairs in order, the extent of secrecy and destruction her late husband Michael has left in his wake, forces Catherine to take a long hard look at the direction of the remainder of her life. In the days that follow, Catherine must deal with very real life issues such as rural isolation, organised criminals targeting vulnerable people and financial ruin. Catherine initially struggles to deal with the overwhelming responsibilities that lay ahead, whilst also providing emotional support to her three adult children. Pride and determination brings out a strength of character beyond Catherine’s own expectations, as she deals with each problem head on, resulting in a new found sense of freedom and the power to forgive and move on with her life.

Cast: Anne McCrudden, Patrick Bergin, Jerry Fish, Paul McQuaid, AbigaIl O'Regan.

Sunphlowers is in cinemas from 26th September 2025.

Dave Byrne, Director of 'Sunphlowers'

Today, we are partnering with Words Across Europe to welcome Johnathan Young, Executive Producer at May One and former VP of Original Programming and Production at HBO Central Europe.

Words Across Europe is an innovative, paid programme that provides participants with a deep understanding of the broader industry landscape, along with the confidence to navigate series writing for television. Most exciting of all, the programme takes place entirely in virtual reality.

Johnathan is one of the industry experts and guest speakers involved in the programme
 
To learn more about Words Across Europe and how to apply, visit www.wordsacrosseurope.eu

Johnathan Young, Executive Producer at May One and former VP of Original Programming and Production at HBO Central Europe

There was a lot to celebrate this Culture Night, as Newcastle West Film Club in Limerick marked 16 years of screening an impressive programme of films. Meanwhile, Coimisiún na Meán’s Sound and Vision Scheme has just turned 20 - and what better way to honour both occasions than with a screening of the scheme’s recent success, documentary Birdsong?

In Desmond Complex on 19th September, Coimisiún na Meán hosted a brilliant evening of music, conversation, and cinema, culminating in a live Q&A with the film’s producer, Ross Whitaker, hosted by Film Ireland Associate Editor Gemma Creagh.

Listen back to these highlights of the evening:

Chatting with Coimisiún na Meán’s Brian Furey — [00.35]

A history of the club with founding member Mary Carroll  — [08.18]

Live Q&A with Ross Whitaker — [23.55]

A word from the members — [38.53]

About Sound and Vision

Over €300 million awarded to almost 5,000 projects. Coimisiún na Meán is celebrating 20 years of the broadcasting funding scheme, Sound & Vision. The Scheme, which was first launched in 2005, has played a crucial role in shaping the Irish media landscape by supporting the creation of diverse, culturally relevant, and innovative content for Irish TV and radio audiences. Over the last two decades, nearly 5,000 projects have been offered funding of just over €300 million to make programming in Ireland, for Irish audiences. These include: 659 drama projects, 94 animation projects, just over 3,200 documentaries, 268 educational projects and 445 entertainment projects, as well as targeted funding rounds to support the commercial and community media sectors. Sound & Vision remains a vital source of funding for producing Irish language content with over 800 hundred of the projects funded classified as Irish/bilingual.

On the Ground: Birdsong Live Q&A with Ross Whitaker at Newcastle West Film Club

In this episode of ‘My Identity’ Professor Colin Graham (Maynooth) is in conversation with Leo Varadkar.

Leo Varadkar was Taoiseach of Ireland from 2017 to 2020 and from 2022 to 2024. During the thirteen years he spent in cabinet, he held many positions across the Ministries of Transport, Tourism and Sport, Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Social Protection, and Health.

After stepping down from political life in late 2024, he was appointed as a Hauser Leader at the Center for Public Leadership in the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard, a Board Member of Brussels based Care4Everybody and writes a column for the Sunday Times Ireland.
In this episode he discusses, among other things, national identity, religion, family and his book: Speaking My Mind.

About the Series

My Identity is hosted by Professor Colin Graham, Maynooth. In this series, Colin is in conversation with a range of people whose ideas, work and life experiences shed light on the topic of identity on the Island of Ireland. My Identity is part of the ARINS project. 

Colin Graham is Professor English and formerly Dean of the Faculty of Arts at Maynooth University. His books include Northern Ireland: Thirty Years of Photography, Deconstructing Ireland and Ideologies of Epic. He was editor of The Irish Review from 2004 to 2020. During the Brexit negotiations he created the Twitter account @borderirish and wrote the book I am the Border, so I am, published by HarperCollins.

ARINS: Analysing and Researching Ireland North and South brings together experts to provide evidence-based research and analysis on the most significant questions of policy and public debate facing the island of Ireland, north and south. The project publishes, facilitates and disseminates research on the challenges and opportunities presented to the island in a post-Brexit context, with the intention of contributing to an informed public discourse. More information can be found at www.arinsproject.com

ARINS is a joint project of The Royal Irish Academy, an all-island body, and the Keough-Naughton Institute for Irish Studies at Notre Dame's Keough School of Global Affairs.
My Identity is hosted by Professor Colin Graham. Podcast management and production by Dr Susie Deedigan.

ARINS My Identity: Episode 6 with Leo Varadkar

The Book of Lecan Conference

During this two-day event in October 2025, speakers explored the production of the Book of Lecan or Leabhar Mór Lecain, its scribes and patrons, and the texts contained within the manuscript.

The manuscript known as the Book of Lecan (Leabhar Mór Lecain) was created in Co. Sligo in the early fifteenth century. It contains a large amount of genealogical material, especially relating to the families with which the scribes were associated, as well as historical, biblical and hagiographical material. Included are a Dindshenchas, Bansenchas, and versions of Lebor Gabála, Uraicept an nÉces, Cóir Anmann, and Book of Rights. The conference papers shared new insights into how the manuscript was produced, its history of ownership and the significance of the various texts found within the compilation.

The event was a collaboration between the Royal Irish Academy, Maynooth University, and the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies.

Recordings have some of the lectures have been made available, subject to the presenters’ consent. It is hoped that the proceedings of this conference will be published as part of the Codices Hibernenses Eximii series in due course.

Thursday 2 October 2025
2.00 pm Making the Book of Lecan - Pádraig Ó Macháin
2.45 pm The Later History of the Book of Lecan - Bernadette Cunningham
3.30 pm Coffee break
4.00 pm Poets and Poetry in the Book of Lecan - Elizabeth Boyle
4.45 pm Lebor Bretnach and the International Perspective of the Book of Lecan - Patrick Wadden

Friday 3 October 2025
9.30am A History of the Men of Britain: Text and Context - Alex Woolf
10.15 am Lebor na Cert: a “Grossly Overrated” Text? - Seán Ó Hoireabhárd
11.00 am Coffee break
11.30 am Gilla Íosa Mór: Pseudohistorian - John Carey
12.15 pm Shaping Dindshenchas Érenn: What the Book of Lecan Version Reveals - Máire Ní Mhaonaigh and David McCay
1.00 pm Lunch
2.30pm A Return to Cóir Anmann: its Etymologies, its Date and the Book of Lecan Text - Sharon Arbuthnot
3.15pm The Book of Lecan’s Secular Genealogies (especially those of Connacht) - Nollaig Ó Muraíle
4.00 pm “A Splendid Family Heirloom”:  Manuscript Illumination and the School of Lecan - Karen Ralph



The Later History of the Book of Lecan - Bernadette Cunningham

In this episode of the Film Ireland Podcast, we are delighted to partner with the Dinard British and Irish Film Festival, which held its 36th edition last weekend in the picturesque seaside town of Dinard, Brittany.

The episode features filmmaker John Kelly, whose animated short Retirement Plan - winner of both the Jury and Audience Awards at SXSW - continues its successful festival run with a screening at Dinard. Our contributor Tanvi Gawali speaks with John about the film’s journey and creative process.

We also hear from Myrid Carten, discussing her powerful documentary A Want in Her, which screened at the festival and is now showing in Irish cinemas.

The Dinard British and Irish Film Festival is an annual celebration of cinema that takes place in the coastal town of Dinard, Brittany. Now in its 36th year, the festival showcases the best of contemporary British and Irish filmmaking, highlighting emerging talent alongside established voices. Known for its warm hospitality and discerning audiences, Dinard provides a unique platform for filmmakers to connect with international industry figures and audiences in France.


Presents: John Kelly, Retirement Plan & Myrid Carten, A Want in Her

In this debut episode of the State of the Arts Podcast, host filmmaker and writer Des Doyle chats with Ciarán Donnelly, BAFTA and multiple IFTA award-winning Director/Producer, and co-creator of Kin. Produced in partnership with Film Ireland and supported by Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland through the Screen Stakeholders Funding Scheme, the series explores the creative processes, industry challenges, and new opportunities that both Irish & international creatives face in ever-evolving artistic landscapes. 

In this discussion, Donnelly shares his experience and insight, having directed and produced some of the world’s most successful television series, including global hits such as Amazon’s The Wheel of Time, Netflix’s Vikings: Valhalla, and MGM/History’s Vikings.

Read more about the podcast here: www.filmireland.net/state-of-the-arts-podcast-ciaran-donnelly-dir-wheel-of-time-vikings-co-creator-kin-with-host-des-doyle/

Follow the journey of  State of the Arts here: https://www.instagram.com/sotapod/

Chapters:

2.37 Influences
5.00 College
11.25 Early Career in the UK
14.37 Getting Cold Feet
20.45 Getting a BAFTA
21.40 Working in the US
22.40 Directing The Tudors
26.04 Directing Camelot
26.45 The Importance of Directing a Pilot
29.05 Gaining Experience and Co-Directing Krypton
32.22 Working With Artists Like Eva Green & John Malkovich
36.06 Directing Wheel of Time
41.13 Being Producer/Director
42.30 Being a Writer
43.25 Kin
46.25 Artificial Intelligence
53.32 The Streaming Age
59.03 Current & Future Projects
1.04.05 T4 Productions
1.05.23 Creator's Choices

State of the Arts: Ciarán Donnelly (Dir: Wheel of Time, Vikings/Co-creator: Kin) with Des Doyle

In this Film Ireland podcast, Conor Bryce talks to Writer Rodney Lee & Director Bonnie Dempsey about their live-action family thriller TV series 'The Unreal'. Originally commissioned by RTE,  series 2  begins airing October 26th.

In the first series, the Kelly family discovered they were actually fictional characters who had escaped from a 1980s TV sitcom into the real world. Now, one year later,  the Kellys are just trying to live a normal life. But when they visit a spooky, run-down hotel to attend an 80s Video Collectors Fair, they get more than they bargained for. Kevin catches glimpses of a ghostly boy and the family decide to go ghost-hunting. But when Kevin eventually comes face-to-face with the apparition, he makes a startling discovery; the ghost looks exactly like him! In Irish folklore, a ghostly doppelganger is known as a ‘Fetch’ and if you see one, legend has it you may soon meet a deadly fate… This is just the beginning of a supernatural comedy adventure as the Kellys uncover strange secrets, confront their fears, and fight to survive in a world where the line between real and unreal becomes increasingly blurred.

Written by Rodney Lee, directed by Bonnie Dempsey, and produced by Nuala Carr and David O’Sullivan of Dyehouse Films

Starring - Senan Jennings ( Kevin ) Joseph McKucken ( Tom ) Kathryn McKiernan ( Mary ) Kate Brady ( Katie ) with Patrick McDonnell, Daniel Nwambu ( Leo )  Lorena Montes and Don King Roganvilla

Ep. 13 Hossein Martin Fazel, “I Am Gitxsan”

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