For those of us of a certain vintage, Italia ’90 will live forever. I remember the thrill of cycling to football training after we beat Romania, utterly euphoric. For that moment in time we were the champions of the world, of our world. Director Kev Cahill decided to parallel this experience with another seminal life story in The Nation Holds its Breath. It was one of four films which were selected by the Weinstein company as part of a competition run in association with Lexus. Cahill who has worked on films such as Alice Through the Looking Glass and Thor: The Dark World explains the premise to the short.
How did The Nation Holds Its Breath come about?
I met Joey Horvitz from The Weinstein Company at the Rhode Island Film Festival. Our first film More Than God screened on the opening night. I had a bottle of whiskey in my bag that I’d brought for my cousin in Boston and offered it up to this unfortunate thirsty bunch. A few people came back to my room including Joey. He told me about the Lexus Short Film Competition and said I should enter. I poured him a tall glass. Months later I got to the final stages of the competition.
We were given two days to write a treatment for a short film based on the word ‘anticipation’. My first thought was about sport – the wait for the final whistle or watching a penalty kick, then I thought about THE penalty shootout of our lifetime Ireland vs Romania. Lots of my friends are having babies at the moment and I thought putting those things together could work as a story.
I was worried the story was too Irish but I got call back from Joey saying I was one of four directors chosen from over 5,000 entries. My cousin is still waiting on the bottle of whiskey.
What are your memories of Italia 90? Where did you watch ‘the match’?
I was nine years old during Italia ’90. It was the best summer ever. I was obsessed with the Orbis Italia 90 sticker book. I used to get so angry when I’d buy a pack and get doubles of ones I already had I turned to crime. I used to rob stickers from Eugene’s shop in Greystones (sorry Eugene). In my defence though the country had gone mad. It was lawless, especially on a match day. I watched the Ireland-England game at the RDS with my Dad. They had big screens and the place set up like a stadium. When Kevin Sheedy scored a man behind us with a massive beard picked me up and started tossing me in the air screaming wildly. For a brief moment I wasn’t sure how to feel about this. As I floated through the air my Dad gave me a wink and a smile and, not with these exact words, told me I was having the time of my life. I was. By the time the Romania game came around I just remember being at home with all the kids from my road. There wasn’t an adult in sight. We ran outside and cheered the name of every penalty taker and ran back in to watch the next penalty. The whole road was doing the same thing. It was magical.
What is working with the Weinstein company like?
The Weinstein team just know filmmaking. I’m learning a lot from them. It was also great having the Lexus executives on board because the film has to work for them too. They put a lot of trust in The Weinsteins and our story. Our film doesn’t feature a Lexus car so in no way is it a commercial. They accepted that no one in Ireland in 1990 would have a Lexus and realised the strength of our story was based on the specifics of tying it to this real match and time. It was an amazing experience to get to work in what felt like a big studio setup but for a short film. At every stage we went through reviews – script, concepts, rushes, edits. You have to be prepared for every question and be strong in your convictions or be ready to accept contribution when you are working with a bigger team. It’s an amazing collaborative process.
How important is the art of observing the quirks of Irish society for you?
I read a quote from John McGahern that said ‘the universal is the local without walls’. By observing Irish quirks you are just observing Irish people and I think that is the most important part of writing. Create characters that people recognise and can relate to by observing those around you. If you can accomplish that then people will laugh or cry with those characters.
Irish people are naturally very charming. A lot of that charm comes from quirks, phrases or gestures but most of it comes from a warmth and nosiness for other people. It’s important to build characters first and let the quirks come through. Sometimes Irish characters seem to be based purely on quirks which is when it falls into the danger of becoming twee and not believable. Sure you know yourself!
Any advice for aspiring directors?
I’ve only made two short films so I’m still looking for advice myself. The first step is if you think you have a story to tell write it and then share what you’ve written with people. If after the fear and anguish of that you are still compelled to tell that story then keep going. For filmmaking the most important thing I found was to find people to work with who are passionate and knowledgeable about the things you don’t know so about and then create a story or a concept that excites them and makes them want to work with you.
Favourite film / director (all time and current)
It’s always changing but I think favourite film of all time would be a tie between The Goonies, Fargo and Pulp Fiction. Favourite film of the last two years – Mad Max Fury Road. This year my favourite has been Get Out.
What’s next for you?
I’m writing a feature film called Salamander. It’s a story of a gossip from a small Irish town who through her long lost son ends up embroiled in a New York crime scene where she uses her nosey neighbour skills to hunt for a grandchild she never knew she had.
Brostigi! (how do you spell it?)
Brostaigh / Brostaighí
That was a tricky conversation getting an unsubtitled Irish word past the team of execs but I have to say The Weinstein Producers fought for it.
You can watch The Nation Holds its Breath at http://bit.ly/LSFNation
Words: Michael McDermott
