Athlone Film Club launches its autumn/winter season on September 14 at 8pm in the Dean Crowe Theatre, with one of the most talked about Irish documentaries ever made, His & Hers. Given the film’s anchoring in the Midlands, it should particularly strike a chord with Athlone audiences and Athlone Film Club is privileged to screen it as their first film of the season.
It’s a hilarious, heartbreaking, and distinctive documentary, shot with charm and humour that delivers an honest and revealing insight into life in Ireland.
Word of mouth and positive reviews have propelled this film into record-breaking audience figures and riches. It has also won many awards, including the World Cinema Cinematography Award and the Audience Award at the Dublin International Film Festival.
In His & Hers director Ken Wardrop crafts a cinematic mosaic that tells a 90-year old love story through the collective voices of 70 ladies at different stages in their lives. It is a celebration of the ordinary moments that add up to the extraordinary.
Hallways, living rooms, and kitchens of the Midlands become the canvas for the film’s rich tapestry of female characters.
Inspired by the story of his own mother’s life, Wardrop presents interviews with women from across the midlands of Ireland. Starting with some in their nappies and ending in a nursing home, the women of gradually increasing ages welcome viewers into their own homes, and from these living rooms, kitchens, and hallways they talk about their experiences, about their relationships and attitudes towards men. These daughters, wives, and mammies are, by turns; frank, funny, gracious, perceptive, and moving, and collectively the interviews form the narrative of life, from the cradle to grave, in an inventive and original way.
Wardrop’s gift for observation is impeccable; each scene is beautifully composed, the women and the interiors all intriguingly framed through a static camera lens.
The story unfolds sequentially from young to old and the characters are charmingly unabashed. Individually each piece works on its own, but together they create an emotional portrait that explores the way we share life’s journey with others.
His & Hers continues to break records, it has passed the €300,000 point at the Irish box office, making it the most successful documentary here since Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit’s 9/11 in 2004, even surpassing the Oscar winning Once.
So don’t miss this unique opportunity to see His & Hers on the big screen, particularly if you missed it the first time around.
You can become a member on the night or come along for the film as a temporary member. There will be a complimentary wine reception in the theatre bar at 7.30pm.
More details are available at www.athlonefilmclub.com or email [email protected].
