Top comedian to star in local film

Connell McHugh

A new short film starring Neil Delamere (left) will leave the people of Tullamore feeling "proud that it took place in their own town," according to the film's writer.

Dave Thomas, originally from Dublin and now living in Arklow, was this year's recipient of the €10,000 Film Offaly Bursary for his screenplay 'Aretha,' which follows the story of an 18-year old girl with Down Syndrome as she gets her first job.

Over 70 other screenplays were in the running for the bursary, and Aretha was chosen as the ricipient following developmental workshops and interviews with Film Offaly.

Dave told the Offaly Independent that inspiration for the story came from his own experiences with a disability he has with his legs.

"I was rejected many times growing up when it came to jobs and opportunities because of my disability, and it's frustrating. There's a perception that you can't do certain things, but I know I can. You're constantly trying to prove that.

"So Aretha is a young girl starting out in adulthood, but she faces unique challenges and difficulties because she has Down Syndrome. She's leaving childhood and entering the big, bad working world, and we follow her on her journey.

"There's drama, there's humour and it's highly emotional. It will make you laugh and cry. But it's a good, positive story for Tullamore and the people there are going to be proud that it took place in their own town."

Dave has a 30 year background in media, having done work with RTE, Newstalk and the Irish Times, but took a career break in 2005 to foster a child with his partner. In 2015 he decided to return to work, turning his focus to film and Aretha was one of the first scripts he completed.

Newcomer Orla Casey will play the title character, while comedian and Offaly native Neil Delamere will play the lead male character, which Dave says could be considered Neil's first "straight" role as he rarely takes on more serious roles.

"I don't like putting too many directions in the script. I like to let the actor bring the essence of the character to life with their facial expressions and body language. It was important to have someone who can do this, so I thought why don't we get a comedian? And Neil read it and he loved it."

Also on board is producer Jason Forde from Four Quadrant Films, cinematographer Tim Fleming, who has worked on films such as Gladiator and Once, and director Hannah Quinn, who directed the final three episodes of Virgin Media One's Blood and has worked on films such as Black 47 and Rosie.

Dave has submitted the screenplay to film festivals around the world. It has won at two in Hollywood, one in Australia, and has been accepted to many more.

"With the people on board, and how the script has been performing so well, there's no way this movie is going to fail. We have people who have worked on Oscar-winning films working on this. They don't normally make short films. If you wanted to hire this crew for filming, it could cost up to €100,000, but they're doing it because they believe in the story."

The whole film will be shot in Tullamore, as a condition of the bursary requires that Offaly be the location of the winning film. Dave says that this did not affect his vision for the project.

"Generally speaking, I don't visualise a certain area or location, I just specify that it's either a city, or a small town or if it's rural.

"Although it had to based in Offaly, I was delighted to have it in Tullamore. If I didn't want it in Tullamore, I would have just looked for somewhere else in Offaly to base the film."

The majority of the movie will take place in a restaurant, which is where Aretha gets her first job, and the crew are currently looking for a girl's bedroom close to Patrick's Street to shoot some scenes. Anybody interested can make contact at arethathefilm@gmail.com

Filming is set to take place in the last four days of January with a premiere date slated for next summer.