Much talked about and, until now, impossible to find, The Outcasts has in recent decades assumed cult status among Irish film enthusiasts and international folk horror fans. Set in rural, pre-famine Ireland, a time when poverty and magic were accepted as facts of life, this is the haunting tale of a young girl’s discovery of her own powers through a ‘a wild, ungodly man’ (Mick Lally) and the passage it offers her into a magical world of imagination and beauty. When Maura (Mary Ryan) is accused of witchcraft by her friends and family, she uses her magic as protection against the community.

Writer/director Robert Wynne Simmons combines horror, comedy, tragedy and supernatural beauty to produce an intelligent and visually stunning directorial debut.

This 2k restoration has been created by the IFI Irish Film Archive through IFI’s Digital Restoration Project funded by Screen Ireland / Fís Éireann with support from the Association des Cinémathèques Européennes (ACE) and the EU Creative Europe MEDIA programme.

The screening will be introduced by writer/director Paul Duane, whose forthcoming film All You Need Is Death was influenced by The Outcasts.

This film restoration premiere is presented as part of the programme ‘A Season of Classic Films‘ an annual programme of free public screenings of newly restored films that take place across Europe. The goal is to (re)acquaint and engage audiences with Europe’s rich and diverse film heritage. More than 20 film heritage institutions, including IFI, are taking part in this 4th edition. More information and access links to films.

This screening is free but ticketed.

Notes by Sunniva O’Flynn