WILDFIRE

A missing woman returns home, igniting an intense bond with her sister. United they unearth their mother’s past but the truth has devastating consequences.

Director: Cathy Brady | 2020 | Ireland | 85mins | 15
​
Triple F-Rated

Born within a year of each other, LAUREN (Nora-Jane Noone) and KELLY (Nika McGuigan) are ‘Irish twins’. You’d never see one without the other, but over the years the mystery of their mother’s death has tore them apart. Kelly, keen to escape their insular town, drifted away and disappeared a year ago. Lauren’s life has been on hold since reporting her sister missing.

Kelly’s unexpected return, sees a surge of every raw emotion between the sisters. Lauren doesn’t know whether to kiss her or hit her. But as they begin to relive memories of their mother, the sister’s become inseparable. Their bond stronger than ever and Kelly’s desire for the truth is dangerously reignited. As Kelly digs deeper, not everyone is ready. In this border town secrets are meant to stay buried and Lauren has been keeping the biggest one of all.

As the truth about their mother begins to surface, Kelly’s mood darkens. But Lauren is blinded, around Kelly she feels alive again, her marriage and job pale in comparison. The town is starting to notice, rumours about the girls strange behaviour spread like wildfire. Lauren must decide to confront their mother’s past with Kelly or risk losing her for good. Time is running out and no one can be trusted. The sisters must escape and face the truth or be consumed by the town and it’s lies.

IWC Schaffhausen Filmmaker Bursary Award
Sundance Nominee
Toronto Film Fesitval

CATHY BRADY

Cathy Brady is a two-time IFTA-winning director, having won Best Short in 2011 for her first film Small Change and again in 2013 for Morning, which was also selected for the BFI London Film Festival 2012 and won the Short Film Nominee prize for the European Film Awards at Cork Film Festival.
In 2011, Brady directed the BIFA nominated short Rough Skin (written by Laura Lomas and starring Vicky McClure) as part of Channel 4's Coming Up scheme. Her short film, Wasted, competed at the Edinburgh International Film Festival in 2013. In the same year, Brady was named one of Screen Daily’s ‘Stars of Tomorrow’.
In 2014, Brady directed on the BAFTA-nominated drama-thriller series Glue. Most recently, Brady directed Stefanie Preissner's TV comedy series Can’t Cope/Won’t Copefor Dead Pan Pictures and RTE, which is currently showing on BBC Three. Her debut feature as writer-director, Wildfire, is currently in development, and will be produced by Carlo Cresto-Dina (The Wonders, Cannes Grand Jury Prize 2014) along with Cowboy Films.

"I was interested in exploring the idea of trans-generational trauma; that is, what-ever is overwhelming and unnameable being passed on to the next generation. I wanted to look at this within the family dynamic but also the wider community. How might the effects of this second-hand trauma manifest itself, specifically in Northern Ireland. Is the trauma of  'The Troubles’ still reverberating and being passed on to younger generations even in peace times? It is particularly relevant as Northern Ireland now has one of the highest rates of anti-depressant prescription levels in the world and suicide rates are soaring amongst ‘Ceasefire Babies’. How can those too young to remember the worst be so acutely affected by the past? 
​
My hope for WILDFIRE is that the audiences can understand and identify with characters who have been driven to extreme behaviour and realise how fragile our perception of reality can be. These characters are bigger than their story and they have the power to open the minds and hearts of the audience and deal with the complexities around mental health issues. The sisters are not merely seen as ‘diagnoses’ of their illnesses, but instead as complex individuals. I hope audiences engage and question their own ideas about sanity and madness and can open up a dialogue about our attitudes towards mental health and vulnerable individuals.
We cannot move on from the past until it is faced and accepted. With the sisters learning to accept their mother’s past thus breaking the cycle and silence, the ending is a cathartic release, but that it also has the power to leave the audience questioning; do we know how to look after our most vulnerable? I want to encourage the audience to realise that as the sisters walk towards help, their future and wellbeing is also in our hands."