FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION

IFTA AWARDS 2026

Swallow

An artist, isolated from the world but not from her memories, begins a letter to an unknown correspondent. Surrounded by the books, mementoes and clutter of her life, her home exposed to the waves of a rising ocean, she writes about the history of lost art. Considering what has been lost, and wondering about her own desire to hold on, she meditates on memory and on art's aspiration to immortality.

Director: Tadhg O'Sullivan
Writer: Tadhg O'Sullivan
Producers: Tadhg O'Sullivan

Filmmaker Q&A

Q: What was the genesis of this film, and how did it evolve over the course of development to production and completion?

Tadhg O'Sullivan (Filmmaker): “The film began as an idea for a documentary about lost and destroyed art, and about the politics of preservation – what do we as a society hold on to and why. I realised that such a film would be far more interesting if its questions were put in the mind of a character for whom they were particularly acute: an older person, an artist, someone living by the very sea whose rising called into question the very ideas of preservation entirely. Once the setting, cast and crew were in place there was a lot of improvising, as I drew on my documentary experience. So the film evolved organically as the various elements interacted.”

Q: What did you feel was the most fulfilling element of working on this film? 

Tadhg: “Writing a character very different from oneself is always challenging – in this case sketching out an older woman, an artist, living alone with her memories and her deep sense of belonging to a particular landscape. The most gratifying thing in the film was Brenda Fricker's immediate understanding and recognition of that character and her ability to bring this person to life, give her a profound humanity and complexity and inhabit the screen through her.”

Q: To what extent was your on-screen talent vital to the success of the film?      

Tadhg: “A film with a single character (canine talent notwithstanding) will inevitably live or die by the ability of the actor to create a compelling, and deeply human on-screen presence. Brenda Fricker's unique ability to bring this character to life in such a captivating way was absolutely vital to this film and its success.”
 

Q: What does it mean to have your work acknowledged by your peers in the Irish film community and showcased at the IFTA Awards?

Tadhg: “It means a lot – Irish film is strong enough and unique enough to exist as its own artistic ecosystem now. While international success is important, there is now a real sense of our making films, in our own way, that speak directly to our own understanding of the world. Recognition, understanding and cross-pollination within this ecosystem is what keeps it thriving.”