IFI Cork on Camera: Flora Kerrigan

Made in 1960s Cork and preserved in the IFI Irish Film Archive, these amateur films by Flora Kerrigan tackle existential subjects, from death to desire, through experimental animation and live-action filmmaking. 

Amateur filmmaker Flora Kerrigan was an active member of the Cork Cine Club during the late 1950s and 1960s, producing numerous Super8 short films ranging from animation to documentary. Kerrigan’s films were recognised internationally and she won awards at prestigious amateur film competitions like ‘Ten Best’.

A selection of her films was also screened on RTÉ in 1965, with one newspaper review praising the quality of the films by this "quizzical young woman from Cork” who made, among other films, “an extremely witty little piece of interplanetary whimsy dealing with the history of space exploration.” Such a description of her film Moonshine doesn’t do justice to the profound criticism of power and ego that Kerrigan comments upon. Her films are often darkly comedic and, using innovative amateur animation techniques and with a clear skill for the edit, Kerrigan’s haunting and eerie films tackle themes of death, destruction and desire.

Presented by the Irish Film Institute in association with Maynooth University.