Abrahamson and O’Halloran reunited for a second feature collaboration in 2007 with Garage, an unlikely successor to the Beckettian bleakness of Adam and Paul but an equally affecting treatment of Irish masculinity at the margins.

Having so convincingly caught the cadences and camaraderie of inner-city Dublin, director and writer sculpted a richly textured portrait of male loneliness in the Irish midlands. The stroke of genius, of course, was casting Pat Shortt – a mainstream comedian more associated with the small town bluster of local politicians and school teachers than rural isolation – in the lead role of Josie. Once again displaying strong talents in the use of locations and in the casting and directing of secondary characters, Abrahamson shows himself a master of mood and detail, privileging scenes that show rather than tell. Strikingly though, a film defined by mood and subtext never becomes abstract, and Garage’s ultimate success derives from its grounding in social and emotional truths.

 Mendel Walzman, a short film by Lenny Abrahamson filmed in the IFI buildings in 1987, will be screened before this screening of on Sunday October 7^th at 1pm.

This film is screening as part of Focus On Lenny Abrahamson season (October, 6th – 14th).