{"id":311261,"date":"2026-02-22T10:07:13","date_gmt":"2026-02-22T10:07:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/311261\/"},"modified":"2026-02-22T10:07:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-22T10:07:13","slug":"oscar-in-sights-for-cork-woman-behind-film-set-in-ireland-past","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/311261\/","title":{"rendered":"Oscar in sights for Cork woman behind film set in Ireland past"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Cork production company is hoping that its latest short film will put it in the Oscar spotlight.<\/p>\n

Heritage is the company behind Newtown Boys, which tells a small story with a big heart.<\/p>\n

Set in Waterford, and based on a true story, the film revisits a transformative moment from the 1960s: a family\u2019s simple act of hospitality toward a boy from a nearby religious backed institution.<\/p>\n

It tells a story of childhood connection, community, and the human consequences of a complex chapter in Ireland\u2019s past.<\/p>\n

The short is produced by Emily Power, from Ovens, who has worked with Heritage for five years.<\/p>\n

The company previously produced the acclaimed short Two For The Road, which was Oscar-longlisted, and Power hopes Newtown Boys will achieve similar success.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are bringing the short to festivals in Ireland, including Fastnet this summer, and then hope to bring it to America,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe dream would be to get it longlisted for an Oscar.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe world we live in nowadays is full of doom and gloom, but if we support each other, we can develop beautiful friendships and relationships.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe hope to spread this message through our film.\u201d<\/p>\n

Power says the story behind Newtown Boys was a perfect fit for Heritage.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always try to find voices we haven\u2019t heard before. The film\u2019s context, with Catholic Ireland as the backdrop and the Mother and Baby Homes, knowing what we do about them now, felt especially compelling.<\/p>\n

\u201cSeeing everything through the eyes of children, who don\u2019t understand the gravity of their situation, really appealed to me.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s powerful how you can show light even in quite a dark and sad situation.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the film, Joseph (Conor Thornton), a young boy living in a Catholic-run orphanage, is given an opportunity to spend a weekend with the warm and welcoming O\u2019Sullivan family.<\/p>\n

During his stay, he forms a close bond with their son, Conn. The weekend marks the starting point of a lifelong friendship.<\/p>\n

\n Newtown Boys is written by Heather O\u2019Sullivan and is based on her father\u2019s family. Power says the most striking thing about listening to O\u2019Sullivan talk about the two boys is the joy they felt when they were together.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe film is based on our writer Heather\u2019s family. Her dad, Conn, and his family took the boy in, and he became like another member of the family. Her family calls him their uncle.<\/p>\n

\u201cHeather says whenever the two men talk about that time, it\u2019s always with so much joy.<\/p>\n

\n \u201cConn has lots of sisters, so by bringing Joseph into their family, he found a brother. He became, and still is, part of the family. Even though being raised in a convent was hard, there was a positive light at the end of the tunnel for Joseph.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

Producers often face difficult decisions. Did having a writer with a personal connection to the film make things more challenging for Power, or did it enhance the process?<\/p>\n

She admits personal ties can sometimes cause complications, but in the case of Newtown Boys, O\u2019Sullivan\u2019s emotional connection allowed her to offer helpful perspectives.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a few sisters in the film. Originally, I suggested cutting them out, but Heather was insistent: \u2018No, I need them. They\u2019re my aunts.\u2019 She made a strong case for keeping them.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom a producer\u2019s perspective, I wasn\u2019t sure they were necessary to emphasise the story, but ultimately, it was helpful. Heather explained that including them in the script really reflects Ireland at the time.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost people come from families with lots of aunts and uncles, so it\u2019s an authentic reflection of the period.\u201d<\/p>\n

Power says that O\u2019Sullivan\u2019s connection to Waterford also helped the production.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe shot in Tramore and around that area. Heather\u2019s family grew up around Newtown. Having that connection made a real difference.<\/p>\n

\n \u201cThe town really got on board. Sometimes, when you arrive to shoot in a new place, you feel like an outsider, but Heather\u2019s connection helped the council, local restaurants, and even accommodation providers to support us. It really created a strong sense of community.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

The film has a great cast, including Tara Breathnach and Lochlann O\u2019Mear\u00e1in. Power says they were lucky to cast two brilliantly talented young actors, Conor Thornton and Leo Earley, to play Conn and Joseph.<\/p>\n

Earley who appeared on the Late Late Toy Show in 2024, has been cast to play Seamus Finnigan in HBO\u2019s upcoming Harry Potter TV series, and is a rising star to watch.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe saw Leo on the Toy Show. He came on because he is a Seancha\u00ed. He had the perfect attitude we needed for Conn; he was a proper little man about town,\u201d said Power.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had a great casting director on board, Shauna Griffith, and she helped us track him down. He was a dream to work with and is about to do great things with Harry Potter.\u201d<\/p>\n

Power says the film\u2019s funding came from a group of women based in New York.<\/p>\n

\u201cEdwina Fitzmaurice is one of our executive producers, who we met through Niamh, our director.<\/p>\n

\u201cEdwina works in business and tech, but she was looking for a creative outlet. She formed a syndicate of businesswomen with Irish connections, as well as one from India and one from Chile, to fund the film.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the funders is Deirdre O\u2019Connor, who comes from Cobh but works in New York. It\u2019s inspiring to have these women, who left their home countries and worked their way up in America\u2019s business industry, finding a creative outlet.\u201d<\/p>\n

See: https:\/\/heritage.ie\/<\/a>target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer”> and https:\/\/www.newtownboys-shortfilm.com\/<\/a>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Cork production company is hoping that its latest short film will put it in the Oscar spotlight.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":311262,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[1043,61,60,80],"class_list":["post-311261","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-technology","tag-film","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/311261","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=311261"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/311261\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/311262"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=311261"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=311261"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=311261"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}