Abrahamson’s first feature and his first collaboration with actor/writer Mark O’Halloran grew from an idea concerning the lives of the inner-city junkies that O’Halloran passed daily on the streets of Dublin. Eschewing a socially realist approach to their material, director and writer spent a long period developing their screenplay into something far more complex and subtle than Loach on the Liffey and, in the process, moulded a new approach to Irish cinema.

Adam and Paul is a unique hybrid of European influences and Dublin sensibilities shot through with an absurdist and often comic vision in the service of a deeply sensitive portrait of drug addiction. Central to its success is the assured consistency of its tone, but all of its elements – script, music, camerawork, use of locations and the utterly convincing central performances of O’Halloran and the late, wonderful Tom Murphy – make it not only an astonishing debut, but a film to view and review. 

This screening will be accompanied by Abrahamson’s award-winning short film, 3 Joes.

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