David, a disconsolate traveller, is stuck in a run-down island port town waiting for a boat to take him home. When all boats are suspended indefinitely, he is left in a state of limbo, until he meets a lively younger woman, Rosa, who seems to understand the inner workings of the town. They make an unlikely pair, with Rosa full of fiery exuberance and David desperately burnt-out, but both are intent on leaving the island and returning to their lives. Together they traverse this purgatorial island, meeting its eccentric inhabitants and piecing together their identities and lives through conversations, memories and haunting incarnations of their past selves. This second feature from Robert Manson (Lost in the Living) explores weighty themes of exile, loss and unreliable memory within a suitably enigmatic and unconventional frame.

Holy Island was funded through the Arts Council’s Authored Works initiative in which IFI are Exhibition Partners.

The screening on Friday 14th will be followed by Q&A with Robert Manson. Tickets on sale here. 

Notes by Sunniva O’Flynn.