Using a mixture of animation and filmed footage, IRENE’S GHOST tells a universally affecting story about family, mental illness and the bonds of love and friendship, whilst movingly rebuilding a lost life.
Iain was just three years old when his mother Irene died. His Dad never spoke about it and his family’s silence around her meant she existed only in Iain’s imagination. Decades later and inspired by the birth of his own daughter, director Iain Cunningham sets out to discover who Irene was.
With his reticent father struggling to share the details, Iain begins knocking on doors in and sifting through old photographs, leading him down a winding path of long-lost relatives and contradictory tales. Through the stories told by Irene’s old friends, Cunningham carefully pieces together fragments of the past to build a portrait of Irene.
What begins as a meditation on memory and identity becomes a study of family, female friendship and the importance of the connections we make and keep.
IRENE'S GHOST will screen at Derby QUAD on Tuesday 11 June at 6.15pm and at Leicester Phoenix on Wednesday 12 June at 7pm.
Both screenings will be followed by a Q&A with director Iain Cunningham.
