Irish Film Institute -International Film Directory – Film Listing

The Artist and the Wall of Death

    • Director

      Maurice O'Brien

    • Credits

      John Kelleher,
      Grant Keir,
      David Power.

  • Category

    Documentary

When Glaswegian performance artist Stephen Skrynka learns that a life-long obsession with building and riding a century-old fairground attraction, the ‘Wall of Death’, was shared with Michael Donohoe and Connie Kiernan (who built a wall in 1979 and inspired the film Eat the Peach), he heads to their farm in Granard, Co. Longford with an audacious proposal: construct a new ‘Wall of Death’ with him and take it on tour. Though the Wall is painstakingly constructed, a massive and painful argument between the trio brings the endeavour skidding to a halt. Devastated, Stephen returns to Glasgow to lick his wounds, emerging mid-pandemic to fight another day. This captivating yarn explores the relentless determination of an artist to realise his dream, risking life, limb, and hard-won friendship along the way.

Notes by Sunniva O’Flynn

91 minutes, Ireland, UK, 2022, Colour

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