Waterford film group impresses at Garter Lane

Waterford-based production Red Lead screens film about addiction in Garter Lane

When Philip Cullen was asked to facilitate a drama workshop for people with acquired brain injuries, he didn’t even really know what acquired brain injuries were. However, after just one workshop, he knew he had stumbled upon something special.

And so, “in a cloud of cigarette smoke and lots of coffee,” Red Lead Productions was created.

Eleven years later, they have produced 14 films, some of which have been screened internationally. 

Longtime member Joe Hodgekins said: “This family has saved my life many times.” 

Richard McGuire noted that after his acquired brain injury, indeed, in the panel discussion after the film screening, all of the cast members emphasised the fact, that this group is far more than a film production group, it is, in its own way, life support.

That is the title of Red Lead’s latest film directed by Fillipe Lezo. The film begins not unlike how the group began: a rag tag group of misfits all gather once a week to slag each other off and help each other out. The difference? All of the characters in the film are addicts. The setting is a dingy church backroom where the chairs don’t fold out properly and the priest leading the group is not able to admit that he also suffers with addiction.

In a '12 Angry Men' style, we get to know the characters intimately over the course of one innocuous AA meeting.

There is Pat (Richie McGuire), a longtime alcoholic who drank “15 pints a day for 40 years.” He’s only getting sober so his wife won’t leave him. There’s Rodger, a suave businessman who’s just there to get his court-ordered hours signed off on. Halfway through the film, Damo bursts onto the screen, like a breath of fresh air. A former drug dealer, he’s having money problems now that he can’t sell.

The film opens and ends with dramatic shots of the Church and a choir singing hymns. It is fleabag-esque, then, to contrast that with tracksuits, “f**k offs”, and cigarette butts. The cinematography was that of a professional production, genuinely unique and breathtaking. 

What really stood out to me though was the script.

In the panel discussion afterwards, Cullen said of the film’s theme of addiction, “my aim was to raise the question rather than answer it”.

Indeed the characters are complex; Simon (David Marchant) is struggling with depression but also crosses a boundary with Nina. Rodger wades through €50 notes to find a fiver to contribute to the group but also offers a word of encouragement to Joe. All of the characters, “are a little bit good and a little bit bad”.

Part of the reason why the actors were able to portray such nuanced characters was because they were the one’s who created them. The panel spoke with passion about the collaborative and fluid approach they took to scripting the film. There is no single person credited with the script; instead, everyone had a say. No idea was shot down, “even my s**t ones” Dean Gallagher (who played Roger) joked.

An audience member asked whether the group would ever try to make money from their films. Kian said: "Think of it like GAA, I used to train for two hours every weekday evening and then do matches on the weekend, I didn’t do it for the money.” 

Cullen said: “If we waited to get money, we’d never do it.”

He joked: “We’re the Vincent Van Gogh of the film world.” 

However, they thanked GOMA gallery, SETU, WWETB and Garter Lane for all of the support they've been given. 

If you would like to support the group as well as gain access to their archive of films, you can do so through this link.