Production starts on Irish-language comedy Baile
Production is under way on “Baile,” a new Irish-language comedy feature starring Marion O’Dwyer and Hazel Doupe, Variety reported. The cameras are rolling. Cast and crew are on location.
The film was co-commissioned for BBC Gaeilge and TG4. That joint order means the two broadcasters back the project together for their own audiences. BBC Gaeilge is the Irish-language arm of BBC Northern Ireland, while TG4 is Ireland’s national Irish-language broadcaster.
It is made by Belfast-based Village Films. Support comes from Northern Ireland Screen’s Irish Language Broadcast Fund, a pot that backs programmes made in Irish. The structure is common for smaller-language film: local producer, public fund, broadcasters attached from the start.
O’Dwyer plays Bríghid, a fiercely independent woman in the early stages of dementia. Doupe plays Naomi, a young cleaner. The two women begin as strangers, employer and employee.
Bríghid hires Naomi to drive her from Belfast to her childhood home in County Donegal. That single journey drives the plot. Two very different lives. One car. A long road north.
Filming is taking place in Belfast, Moira and Tyrella Beach in Northern Ireland, alongside locations in County Donegal. The schedule moves between city streets and open coastline. The route of the story is written into the shoot.
The film was commissioned by Eddie Doyle and Máire Ní Chonláin. Doyle is head of commissioning at BBC Northern Ireland, the executive who orders programmes for the service. Ní Chonláin is commissioning editor at TG4, the equivalent editorial role at the Irish-language channel.
“Baile” is the third feature ordered through Gealán. Gealán is a feature film initiative run by BBC Northern Ireland, TG4 and the Irish Language Broadcast Fund to develop Irish-language cinema. The first project was “Doineann,” made by DoubleBand Films. The second was “Aontas,” made by Púca Pictures.
What makes this stand out is the combination. An Irish-language comedy built around two women from different generations puts dementia inside a warm road story. For viewers, this means another home-grown feature made to be heard in Irish from the first scene to the last.
