Subotica Entertainment Ltd
11 Hume Street
Dublin 2, Ireland
Tel:+353 1 6622226 Fax: +353 1 6622227
e-mail:info@subotica.ie

Song for a Raggy Boy (2003)

| Song for a Raggy Boy on IMDB |

Director Aisling Walsh

The Filmmakers

AISLING WALSH - DIRECTOR
Irish director Aisling Walsh has a list of well-known film and television credits. The recent Sinners, tells the fictional story set against the real background of the Magdalen Laundries in Ireland in 1960s. Made for BBC Northern Ireland and Parallel Films it won five awards at the recent Shanghai TV Festival including Best Director.

Her other film and television credits include, Beyond Justice, A Piece of My Heart, Mother Of Pearl and the acclaimed Joyriders. Also for television, Trial and Retribution 2 & 5, La Plante's The Governor, Roughnecks, the BAFTA award winning Doctor Finlay, The Bill and Forgive and Forget.

Aisling's short film at the National Film school, Hostage, won Gold Plaque Award at Chicago Film Festival and the Special Jury Prize at Tours Film Festival.

Song for a Raggy Boy Press: An Interview with Aisling Walsh from the International Federation of Film Critics

Aisling Walsh on IMDB.com

PATRICK GALVIN - WRITER OF THE NOVEL SONG FOR A RAGGY BOY
Patrick Galvin was born in Cork, Ireland in 1927. He sold broadsheets in pubs in his early childhood, leaving school in 1939. After being employed as messenger boy, newspaper boy and projectionist in Washington Street and Lee Cinemas in Cork, he travelled to Belfast to join the American Army but enlisted in the RAF Bomber Command instead, where he served in the UK, Middles East, Coastal Command and Africa.

He is an acclaimed Poet, Playwright and satirist and is a member of Aosdana, the Irish Academy of Letters. In his early career he was a well-known folk singer, songwriter and song collector, and travelled as ballad singer and collector throughout Europe. He recorded seven volumes of Irish folk songs in the UK and USA.

As a poet and social commentator he has frequently broadcast his work on RTE and BBC. He has also travelled extensively giving readings from his work throughout Ireland, the UK, Germany, Belgium, Newfoundland, Mexico and the USA. His poetry was recorded at the Liberty of Congress in Washington D.C. and is held in the archives there.

Playwright - His early plays Cry The Believers and And Him Stretched were staged in Dublin in the 60's (acquiring him the title, the 'Enfant Terrible' of the Irish Theatre) while in the 70s and 80s during his time as Resident Dramatist there, The Lyric Theatre in Belfast staged, Nightfall To Belfast, The Last Burning, We Do It For Love (which broke Box Office records there for a new play). These plays went on to be staged in Canada, New York, Australia, Norway, Germany, Wales, The Young Vic London, The Citizens Theatre Glasgow, The Everyman Theatre in Cork and The Abbey Theatre in Dublin. In the late 70's his play The Devil's Own People was staged at the Dublin Theatre Festival and directed by Jim Waring. In 1981 he wrote the operetta My Silver Bird based on the life and times of Grace O'Malley, with musical score by Peadar O Riada. This was staged at the Lyric Theatre, Belfast.

Radio - Galvin has adapted a number of his stage plays for broadcast on RTE, BBC Radio 4 and World Service. His radio play, Class of 39 was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 to great critical acclaim. He adapted Paul Smith's The Country Woman and W.W. Jacob's The Monkey's Paw for BBC Radio 4 and World Service. In the late 80s his verse play, City Child Come Trailing Home was broadcast on RTE along with Seascape, Wolfe and Quartet for Night Town.

Poetry - His seven volumes of Poetry include, Heart of Grace (1950), Christ In London, The Woodburners, Man On The Porch, Folk Tales For The General, The Death Of Art O'Leary and New And Selected Poems.

Autobiography - His first two published volumes of his autobiography Song For A Poor Boy and Song For A Raggy Boy have been translated into Italian and were published in Italy in 2002. In December 2002 The Raggy Boy Trilogy will be published, to include his most recent volume Song For A Fly Boy.

Screen - Galvin's first screenplay Boy In The Smoke was televised by BBC 2. More recently, as well as adapting Song For A Raggy Boy for the cinema he has adapted Aunt Bridget from his autobiographical work and the folk tale Bottle Hill.

He is currently editor of the literary journal, Southword and is working on a new stage play based on The Last Tango by novelist and screenwriter, Eoin MacNamee.

PETER ROBERTSON - DOP
Peter Robertson's work as D.O.P extends across film, television and commercials. For television his credits include, Most Important, Voyage, A Vertical Man, the award winning Waterways, From The Horses Mouth and McKenna's Ireland. He aslo worked as steadicam operator for TV shows such as Ballykissangel. As a commercials D.O.P. his work includes, Low Salt, Bisto, Aero, Citroen, Telecom Eireann, Guardian Royal Exchange, Lyons Tea, Carlsberg, Seven Seas, Ballygowan, Harp, McDonalds and Heineken.

ALLISON BYRNE - COSTUME DESIGNER
Costume designer Allison Byrne worked as costume designer on Relative Strangers and A Love Divided and as assistant costume designer on Love and Rage and Trojan Eddie. Her work also includes work in the wardrobe department on Oliver Twist, The Matchmaker, The Serpent's Kiss, The Van, Moll Flanders, Nothing Personal, Father Ted, Braveheart, The Family, In The Name of The Father, Into The West, Far and Away and in the theatre.

BRYAN OATES - EDITOR
Brian Oates' extensive work as an editor includes films such The Sea Change, What's Eating Gilbert Grape, Cover Up and Who Framed Roger Rabbit. He has also worked on television productions such as Night & Day, Hope and Glory, Harbour Lights and Bramwell.