PRODUCTION STATEMENT

Set in small town Ireland in 1981, ‘Dannyboy’ tells the story of a young man trying to find love among New Romantics, Post Punks, Goths and others tribes. The film follows its protagonist Daniel, an anxious, stuttering teen who attempts to save his demented family in the midst of a compromising love triangle.

Clelia Murphy (‘Fair City’) and Fiona Condon (‘Red Rock’) star with Darragh Byrne as the titular character. Helena Geoghegan, Alexandra Moloney, Lucy Jones, Paddy C. Courtney and Jack Hickey have also been cast in the feature.

Director Ferdia MacAnna: “I’ve wanted to make this comedy love story for years and I’m hugely excited by recreating the mad youth scene of Ireland in 1981 in Naas and Sallins and in the wonderfully cinematic big sky country of Kildare. We have a talented cast and crew, cool tunes and crazy dance moves on what we belive is a funny, life-affirming original tale.”

Ferdia Mac Anna and Mary Duffin (‘All about Eva’) wrote the screenplay whilst Alan Rogers was the DoP. Philip Lewis took on editing duties with wardrobe by Joyce Kelly, make up by Jennie Kelly, and sound by Alan Joyce and Neil Horner.

Producer Richie Kearney: “We are very excited about the potential of the film. Ferdia and Mary have written a hilarious script and Kildare, which is my home county, is a great location for filmmaking for its urban/rural areas as well as local people acting as extras. We had a dynamic team and a wonderful cast. The local community were fully behind us and we couldn’t have done it without them. We are ready to welcome the 1980s again.”

SYNOPSIS

The film tells the tale of anxious stutter-prone,18 year-old Daniel Buckley (played by newcomer Darragh Byrne) whose struggle to find love is constantly depth-charged by anxiety, including a bad stutter that becomes chronic around girls he fancies. Daniel has been holding his madcap family together following the disappearance of his father. He has a full time job on his hands dealing with his charismatic, beautiful but deluded Mother, Kathleen (Played by Clelia Murphy) who is convinced she will become the first female leader of the Fianna Fail party, not to mention Taoiseach (Prime Minister) of Ireland. Daniel must also contend with the shenanigans of his delude wannabe rock star older brother Rory (Jack Hickey), whose band The Silent Bottles are making waves around their home town of Lennonstown, Co. Kildare.

DIRECTOR

Ferdia Mac Anna was born in Dublin and works as a novelist, film director, screenwriter and lecturer. He produced a BAFTA winning BBC/RTE drama series, ‘Custer’s Last Stand-Up’ (2000-2002). In 1996, his novel , ‘The Last of the High Kings’ was made into a Hollywood movie starring Jared Leto, Gabriel Byrne and Christina Ricci. He has directed short films, documentaries, TV dramas and soaps as well as the feature films, All About Eva (2015) and DannyBoy (2021).