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THE WORKS PRESENTS… ***NEW SERIES***

Lenny Abrahamson and John Kelly in cinema, The Works Presents Image Name: Lenny Abrahamson and John Kelly in cinema, The Works Presents Description: Lenny Abrahamson and John Kelly in cinema, The Works Presents

SEASON 2, PROGRAMME 1:  LENNY ABRAHAMSON

This spring on RTÉ One, a special season of arts programmes celebrates some of the key cultural figures whose work has shaped, and continues to shape, modern-day Ireland.

From the great writers and thinkers of the Celtic Revival to today’s acclaimed theatre directors, musicians and film-makers, the artists featured in this season of programmes have all innovated, challenged and broken new ground. Their work questions society, politics and accepted ideas; or takes traditional arts practices into new, and exciting, territory. These are the innovators, the trailblazers, the activists whose work opens up new horizons.

As part of this season, on The Works Presents, John Kelly meets five Irish artists on the cutting edge of their craft: film director Lenny Abrahamson; actor, writer and theatre artist Olwen Fouéré; singer and lyricist Iarla Ó Lionáird; theatre director Louise Lowe; and artist Brian Maguire.

This week, John Kelly meets THE Irish film director of the moment, Lenny Abrahamson, whose new film Room has been on something of an awards roll since it started showing at film festivals worldwide in 2015. Based on the book of the same name by Irish author Emma Donoghue, it stars Brie Larson and Jacob Tremblay as a mother and son who live in captivity in a world called Room.

Lenny says: “What you’re also talking about in Room is you’re using that dysfunctional lens on the functional and universal aspects of childhood, child-rearing, parenting, growing up…”

Here, he tells John about his own childhood in Dublin and his family’s eastern European Jewish background. He also talks about the links between his own love of Laurel and Hardy and the film Adam and Paul, about directing actors such as Pat Shortt in Garage and about why he put Michael Fassbender in a mask for most of the film Frank!

 

There are 10 episodes in this series of The Works Presents…