Mayo premiere of locally shot film Prospect House
PROSPECT House, a satirical feature film shot on location at the elegant Georgian manor Enniscoe House, on the shores of Lough Conn, screens from April 26 at IMC Cinema, Ballina, with the Mayo premiere being held there that evening.
Written and directed by Paul Mercier, Prospect House won the accolade of Best New Irish Feature at the 2023 Cork International Film Festival.
Produced by Anne Gately with An Pointe Productions, it stars Barry Ward (Sunlight), Dara Devaney (Arracht), Ciara Ivie (Vikings) and Paul Reid (Flora and Sun). Among the film’s cast hailing from Mayo are Caroline B. Keane and Karl Coyne from Claremorris, Liam Alex Heffron (Fair City), Tom Tuffy and Mary McHale from Ballina, Westport’s Keith Martin, Rebecca Timoney and Shane O'Boyle from Crossmolina and Aidan Browne from Lahardane, alongside a predominantly local production crew.
Mercier commented on the filming: “Mayo is a great place to work. Enniscoe House became the primary location after Anne Gately approached the Kellett family and they agreed to let us shoot there.
“Moreover, they agreed to let us turn their house and home upside down. I wouldn’t recommend it, not if you’ve a protected building. The last shower to do that in Enniscoe was the French in 1798 and they took the wine. Unlike them, we put the place back as we found it.”
He continued: “Ironically, the townland that Enniscoe House is situated in is called Prospect, which we didn’t realise initially. We also shot in the north Mayo region, including Ballina, and are very excited for the upcoming Mayo premiere there.”
The film centres on a group of protesters, filming a period re-enactment in a dilapidated 18th century house in a last ditch effort to save the building from demolition. The protesters, a motley crew of artists, actors and activists who want to bring the building’s plight to the attention of the world and rescue it from the claws of aggressive property developers, believe that they can save the building by telling its story.
But the project is rife with discord, as no-one can agree on what story they are telling.
Prospect House challenges conventional understandings and perceptions of heritage, historical narrative and truth.
Shot in the spring of 2022, Prospect House is one of many productions to be filmed in County Mayo in recent years. Others include The Tourist, Wild Mountain Thyme, Banshees of Inisherin, My Sailor, My Love, A Cry from the Sea and Irish Wish.
Prospect House was funded by Coimisiún na Meán - Sound & Vision Scheme, with the support of incentives for the Irish Film Industry provided by the Government of Ireland.
Advance bookings for the various screenings at IMC Ballina can be secured via https://imc.ie/advance-bookings/ballina/.