Galway Film Fleadh Premiere for film shot in Cavan
A short film that was shot in Cavan recently premiered at the Galway Film Fleadh this month.
Written by Bobby Moloney, produced by Maria O’Neill and directed by Jaro Waldeck, ‘Linger’ was filmed near Bailieborough across four days in October 2025. Two scenes were shot at Castle Lake with the remaining scenes filmed in a house on a farm in the townland of Killan.
Funded by Screen Ireland, the film deals with themes of expectations versus reality through the lens of an older couple in their late 60s, who are living in the future around 30 years from now.
Actors Catherine Byrne and Nick Dunning play a married couple, where the wife (Eve) is caring for her braindead husband (David) with only an AI voice assistant called MIA to keep her company. Medical advancements make it possible for her to bring him back to life for seven days, and the story is set over those days.
Speaking to the Celt, Jaro says the short film encourages viewers to wonder: “Will that time together be as lovely as she hopes?”
The 15 minute film was shot in Cavan after they came across the house on a website that lists luxury homes for rent, and received extra funding from Screen Ireland to bring the location and cast here.
“I was delighted that we could go into an area where filmmaking is less common,” Jaro says.
“I am all about supporting filmmaking out of Dublin and Wicklow.”
Cavan, with all of its “rolling hills” was “so beautiful.”
“Everybody was very accommodating,” she recalls.
The crew immersed themselves in the local Bailieborough community, with many staying in the Bailie Hotel, and their main catering company was Foosie.
“The budgets we get for these films are spent locally,” Jaro says.
A board member of Women in Film and Television Ireland, Jaro is passionate about bringing filming to rural locations and telling local stories.
“I think audiences are hungry to see a life portrayed outside of Dublin and Wicklow, not only do they like to see stories set in those rural locations but about those locations.
“Internationally, programmers want to see these stories because that’s something original to them.”
She believes it’s “becoming more supported and encouraged” to film in rural Ireland.
“Affordability of living is non-existent in Dublin so bringing a production to counties outside of Dublin is incredibly important because it shows the new generation of filmmakers that it is possible to live more rurally and sustain your career.”
Aside from her directorial debut, Jaro has been working as a cinematographer for 15 years, and has previously worked on the feature-length documentary ‘Housewife of the Year’, directed by Cavan man Ciarán Cassidy.
Having grown up in the Czech Republic under Russian occupation, her generation was the first to move away after liberation, and she moved to England at 18 years of age. She later went to America, where she took up photography before crossing into cinematography.
A cinematography tutor in Griffith College Dublin, Jaro has been living near Blackrock on the south side of Dundalk for the past three years, and her first feature film ‘Dreamtown’ is available on the RTÉ Player.