Party time for Cavan film
The good news is that the eagerly anticipated independent feature film No Party for Billy Burn is set to première in Cavan later this evening! The great Cavan public get the chance to rub shoulders with cast and crew as the film makes it première at the Odeon Cinema on Thursday, December 28 at 8pm. However, if you haven’t already got your hands on tickets for that gala event -it’s too late as it’s sold out. Happily, due to popular demand the cinema has laid on a second screening on Thursday, January 4 at 8pm. Tickets €15 available from Multisound Main St. Cavan.
Penned and directed by Loch Gowna native Pádraig Conaty, and starring Kevin McGahern of Republic of Telly fame, No Party for Billy Burn has been well received in its festival outings at the Galway Film Fleadh and Cork Film Festival. It was shot mostly on location around Arvagh, Loch Gowna and North Longford, highlighting the beautiful landscape and drawing on a wealth of local talent both sides of the camera. Produced on an incredibly small budget, this crowd funded film was made possible by the huge rally of support of these communities.
Billy (Kevin McGahern) a simple good natured lad and would-be-cowboy, lost in the lonely fields of Cavan and his own imagination, leads a sheltered existence living with his difficult grandfather (Shane Connaughton). He happily ambles along despite being mocked around the town for not being ‘half solid’ An unfortunate chain of events triggers Billy’s loss of innocence, where the lines between reality and fantasy begin to blur. The film also features Sonya O’Donoghue, Charlie McGuinness, Ray Reilly, Deirdre Gilbride, Seamus O’Rourke, Tommy Sharkey, Ray Fitzsimons and Cornafean storyteller Eamon Maguire with a host of familiar faces playing supporting roles.
“My intention with the film is to present the mundanity young people experience in a rural town and the various methods they use to find catharsis,” said Pádraig Conaty, Director. “Through the main character Billy, I want to show how the imagination can both struggle and thrive under such conditions, with a little help from our obsession with American culture!”