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Director
Joe Lawlor Christine Molloy
Credits
Producer: Joe Lawlor
Writers: Joe Lawlor, Christine Molloy, Ben Slater.
Cinematographer: Ole Bratt Birkeland.
Principal Cast
Annie Townsend, Sandie Malia, Dennis Jobling.
Category
Feature
A remarkable debut feature from directors Joe Lawlor and Christine Molloy, Helen is the story of an alienated young woman who wrestles with assuming another’s identity rather than holding to her own. Having grown up in a care home, Helen (Annie Townsend) finds herself on the threshold of two different lives as she turns eighteen. Just as she is allowed access to the files that will reveal her heritage, she participates in a police reconstruction appearing as missing teenager Joy Thompson and, through meetings with Joy’s parents, begins to slip into the missing girl’s skin. Helen’s self-assuredness is impressive; boldly employing members of the public with no acting backgrounds, the film unfolds in a meditative, slow-cinema fashion that eschews the dramatics one might expect of a missing-person film in favour of thoughtful character study. Restoration completed by IFI Irish Film Archive in 2023 and DCP available for exhibition.
79 minutes, Ireland, UK, 2008, Colour
ARCHIVE AT LUNCHTIME: BRITISH & IRISH (PROGRAMME 2) 12.50
CROSSING 15.20, 20.55
HEART OF AN OAK 18:00
LA CHIMERA 20.30
SHAYDA 13.00 (OC), 18.00
SLEEP 13.15
THAT THEY MAY FACE THE RISING SUN 18.30
THE COMMANDANT’S SHADOW 13.40
THE CONVERSATION 50TH ANNIVERSARY 4K RESTORATION 16.00
The IFI is supported by The Arts Council