The Outcasts

The Outcasts

About the event

The plot is based on Irish mythology and history and is set before the Great Famine of 1845 to 1852. Influences include The Book of Thel by William Blake, and poetry by W. B. Yeats.

The Outcasts, set in pre-famine Ireland when poverty and magic were rife, sees a young girl (Mary Ryan) discover a magical world of the imagination through ‘a wild, ungodly man’ (Mick Lally). When she is accused of witchcraft she uses her own supernatural powers for protection. Robert Wynne-Simmons combines horror, comedy and tragedy to produce this intelligent and visually stunning directorial debut. A 2k restoration by the IFI Irish Film Archive for IFI’s Digital Restoration Project funded by Screen Ireland/Fís Éireann with further support from Association des Cinémathèques Européennes (ACE) and EU Creative Europe MEDIA programme.

Because it was the first major movie to be funded in Ireland for half a century, it was given credit for initiating the revival of the Cinema of Ireland. This project by the film company Tolmayax was nearly prematurely ended in December 1981 when the film location became inaccessible due to snow 14 feet deep. Filming started again in February 1982, funded by the Arts Council of Ireland and the Irish Film Board. It was bought by Channel Four Television Corporation for its Film on Four series and first transmitted in 1984.

FILM INFO: 

Starring: Cyril Cusack, Mick Lally, Mary Ryan, Bairbre Ní Chaoimh, Donal O'Kelly

Director: Roberty Wynne-Simmons, Music: Steve Cooney, Cinematography: Seamus Corcoran. 

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