Young Cork filmmaker hoping to get rave reviews for new short film

Michael Keane, a 21-year-old Cork filmmaker, has just wrapped on his newest short film, titled Into the Silence.

Set in the heart of Ireland’s 1990s rave movement, it tells the story of two young men who are altered by a transformative rave, sparking a journey to redefine themselves within the music and the cultural revolution that surrounds them.

“It’s taken close to a year now to put the story together,” Mr Keane told The Echo.

“The research element took the longest, but I wanted it to be as authentic as possible,” he added, explaining that a lot of the inspiration for the project came from Sir Henry’s in Cork.

Immersive 

Written and directed by Mr Keane, the film is currently in post-production, which he expects to be a lengthy process.

“It’s a musically immersive piece, so we are making our own original music.

“I have three really talented composers on board, and it needs to be edited in time with the beat of every track, which is quite fast paced.”

He aims to start festival rounds in April, and premiere the film at Galway Film Fleadh this summer, adding that he would love to see it spread to other countries in Europe.

“There’s been a really strong resurgence in house music, so I think the film will appeal to people in their 20s, but also people who took part in rave gatherings in the ’90s.”

The film had a crew of 30 people as well as a cast of actors and extras, including several from Cork: Daire Smiddy (sound), Ronan Murphy (editor), Kyra Owers (script supervisor), Gabriele Liotta (composer), and cast member Ruth Hayes, who plays the lead’s mother.

It was crowdfunded to the tune of nearly €4,000, with Mr Keane saying: “We were blown away by the immense support. It really shows the passion and the encouragement people give to artistic projects and shows that people connected with the topic.”