MUD AND BONE NIGHT: Fuil na mBarr & Penda's Fen

We are delighting to be able to reschedule this screening with an expanded programme of shorts and now in one of our favourite venues, the Sunflower Bar.

Normal Cinema Club is proud to present an evening of films inspired by the land beneath us and the stories it holds, featuring a programme of shorts including Rory Carroll's FUIL NA MBARR and Archie Reid's THE HUNGRY GRASS, and culminating with Alan Clarke's PENDA'S FEN.

Penda's Fen is a seminal piece of folk horror, transcending the genre to become an exploration of identity, queerness, religion, nationalism, pagan histories, weird little demons, and so much more. The obnoxious son of a pastor starts to question his beliefs, religious and political, after a series of dreams where he encounters surreal manifestations of the past. Director Alan Clarke admitted to not fully understanding the script, yet his knack for invoking the uncanny (as seen in his other masterpiece ELEPHANT) conjures a world both wondrous and nightmarish as protagonist Stephen discovers his identity and comes to terms with his sexuality.

Where Penda's Fen is an exploration of the British national identity, and a consideration of its soiled history, Fuil na mBarr is an Irish subversion, with the shadow of the famine looming large. Set during the 1840s, it starts with a land dispute that leads to brother killing brother. After burying the body at the bottom of his field, the farmer's crops begin to die and his mind begins to unravel. The Hungry Grass is a local gem from Northern Ireland Screen's Digital Film Archive, following an American tourist interested in local history falling under the grasp of local nature.

This screening will take place upstairs in The Sunflower Bar, which is unfortunately not wheelchair accessible. Doors will open at 6.45pm, with the shorts beginning shortly after 7pm. There will be a short break before the feature. This is a strictly 18+ event.

Normal Cinema Club is supported by Cinema For All and FilmHubNI. Penda's Fen (1974) courtesy of the BFI National TV Archive. The Hungry Grass (1981) © Lindy Reid, courtesy of Northern Ireland Screen’s Digital Film Archive.

Host or Publisher Normal Cinema Club