Irish Music Videos at DIFF: Celebrating a vibrant creative community
From the flats to farmyards, modernised myths to murderous couples; a wide breadth of Irish life and storytelling was on display when Dublin International Film Festival screened a selection of music videos during the closing weekend of this year’s festival. A who ’s-who of Irish creatives took to Haymarket House on the eve of the event. With many of the artists and collaborators in attendance, it felt like an ode to a creative community striving against the odds.
Showing Santry’s Omni Shopping Centre in all its glory, the evening kicked off with the music video for EURO-COUNTRY by Ireland’s own international popstar CMAT. The pop star called upon talented filmmaker Eilís Doherty to direct the video for the title track to her Mercury Prize-nominated album. Popping up across Ireland in the late 20th Century, shopping centres were a by-product of a period of economic growth and capitalist expansion, only to be upended by the 2008 global economic crash. Dancing in the display window of a now closed shop while wearing a top that reads “BERTIE”, CMAT laments the false promises of growing up in Celtic Tiger Ireland and the struggles that caused her to leave a country she dearly loves. Odd shoppers can be seen throughout the video in the mostly empty mall, but a significant crowd gathers around CMAT’s final dance in the centre’s crown jewel: a jet fountain. A display of naive opulence common during the Celtic Tiger, the jet fountain now holds an eerie presence amongst the empty shop windows and unused kiddie rides.
Rappers Khakikid and Curtisy evoke nostalgia for urban upbringings in their respective videos for songs Moved On and Tell Me I’m Good. Repping their hometowns as is classic hip-hop fashion, they show a playful side to Dublin’s working-class neighbourhoods.
The music video for BIIRD’s The Rollover seems nostalgic at first as the 11-piece all female band enjoy creamy pints in a pub during an energetic trad session. When you remember that banning women from pubs because of their sex only became outlawed in Ireland in the year 2000, the video starts to feel more progressive and current. Coupled with the growing prevalence of Irish art and music in pop culture, this video makes trad music seem less a thing of the past and instead an ongoing tradition still being shaped and celebrated. The Rollover director Olivia McLaughlin received a Discovery Award earlier in the day for her short film Parting at the DIFF Awards.
Irish mythology meets Luca Guadagnino’s Challengers in the Benedict Goddard and Colin Peppard directed video for Chalk’s Can’t Feel It. After a woman posts a selfie online, two medieval knights rush to find her sitting in a field next to a sword protruding from a stone. Whichever knight can pull the sword from the stone will win her love. The Sword of Light (or An Claíomh Solais) is a common motif within bridal-quest stories in Irish folklore. It’s said to hold supernatural powers and was once wielded by Nuada of the Tuath Dé Danann. After several attempts at pulling the sword, the two knights are suddenly sweaty and topless. Failing individually, the pair combine their strengths and miraculously dislodge the sword from the rock, lifting it overhead. The knights indulge in a homoerotic gaze, unconcerned for the woman who watches with delight. It echoes sentiments of Lady Augusta Gregory’s Grania. Gregory’s retelling of the Irish myth of Gráinne and Diarmuid highlights the love between Fionn and Diarmuid that fuels their rivalry while emphasising Gráinne’s autonomy in choosing a lover.
Other highlights include the sublime video for Amble’s Reverie, a pensive meditation on loss and time set on an Irish farm. The video for Michael D Higgins’ Against All Certainty boasts an impressive cast of Éanna Hardwicke, Olwen Fouéré and Ciarán Hinds. The haunting video beautifully reflects the former president’s poem detailing a churchgoing family’s battle with waning fate. Its director Ellius Grace also received a Discovery award at the DIFF Awards, for his short A Song. Tiara’s, weapons and stunning garden views are all on display in Morgana’s hilarious video Party Killer in which a manic couple desperately try to murder each other. Ahmed, with Love’s Bronco Loko video is a comic gangster parody; he takes featured artist Curtisy along on a high-stakes Four Loko drug-deal that narrowly avoids violence. The rapper directed the video along with Killian Taylor, using his own car as prop. Josh O’Caoimh’s animations amaze in the video for Mary Coughlan’s Is That All There Is? The Dublin-based illustrator said that he worked on the video for about a year as it was done mostly in his spare time. The result is a collage of highly detailed images depicting scenes of loneliness and despair while Mary asks the existential question, “is that all there is?”
“Multi-hyphenate artist” and “wears many hats” were the phrases DIFF programmer Aisha Bolaji repeated when speaking to several filmmakers during the event’s post-screening Q&A. It was pertinent. Many of the filmmakers who took to the stage spread themselves thin working across various mediums and practices. Commercial projects and part-time jobs are necessary to sustain their artistic endeavours. They collaborate extensively, with many of the artists in attendance having worked across multiple videos screened. It’s indicative of a tight-knit community determined to leave its mark, but it also highlights the lost potential within a country not always kind to its young. For every talented artist in attendance, there’s an equally talented Irish person working in places like London or Berlin or in another profession because their passion isn’t feasible.
Not reduced to Instagram reels or YouTube shorts, DIFF offered a rare chance to view these works in their fullest form; on a big screen with a full sound-system. The little attention given to music videos by consumers in the streaming era makes them seem like a costly indulgence for most musicians. Seldom now do people recognise music videos from even the most famous popstars. An arduous effort with little reward, yet they’re still in abundance. Seeing them at DIFF gave deserved attention to a labour of love too often overlooked.
Written by: Aaron Geraghty from DIFF
