An adaptation of the final novel from John McGahern, one of Ireland’s greatest writers, That They May Face The Rising Sun is a lyrical celebration of the everyday. Joe (Barry Ward) and Kate Ruttledge (Anna Bederke) have returned from London to live and work among a small lakeside community near to where Joe grew up. Now deeply embedded in the life around the lake, the drama of a year in their lives and those of the memorable characters that move about them unfolds through the rituals of work, play and the passing seasons. In passages of great beauty and truth, Pat Collins, in his second feature film following several acclaimed documentaries, sensitively interprets McGahern’s work, drawing out the novel’s deceptive simplicity, and transforming an enclosed world into an everywhere.

Notes by David O’Mahony.

This film is screening as part of our Best of Irish 2024 Season.