Meet the Finalist: Oisín-Tomás ó Raghallaigh, "Hindsight"

Tell us about yourself, and about Hindsight.

I am a short filmmaker from Ireland. My first short film was 'Attraction' in 2016 which I made with the BFI Film academy and since then I have continued to increase my skills and make short films. ‘Hindsight’ was made at the National Film and Television School in Beaconsfield England and was heavily inspired by the genre of social realism, tackling issues around drug abuse, imprisonment, family and domestic violence. It’s now finishing its festival run with selections at 'Encounters', 'Flickers' Rhode Island International Film Festival', 'Richard Harris International Film Festival', 'Kerry Film Festival' and at 37 others so far with 15 wins and 10 nominations on the festival circuit. After directing the film I also won the 'Into Film' Ones to Watch Award, from EON Productions in 2019 and am being mentored by BAFTA.

Share a memorable moment you experienced working on this project.

There were so many memorable moments whilst working on the project, but If I had to pick one it’s probably from our last day in the edit on the project. It was really hectic- our premiere date was already set, and we only had 2 days to do the ENTIRE edit on the project before having our premiere at the BFI Southbank in London. That was crazy in itself but while watching the film in preparation for picture lock, the ending was not really hitting the emotions I wanted and so with only an hour or two left to edit, before it had to move to our sound designer to get sound work completed over night for our premiere in the morning, I decided to ring the DOP and shoot a insert shot for the end of the film. It was a close up of a drawing that Tony’s daughter makes while she visits him in prison and it now serves as the final shot of the film. I think it was the perfect way of joining all the themes of the story together at the end and I honestly can’t the imagine the film without it now.

Name 3 collaborators that you'd take with you to any other project.

Oh! That’s a hard question. The whole crew were really amazing, and I would love to work with them all again. I would be amiss not to give a particularly shout out to our sound designer Breen Turner though as I worked with him on my most recent short film ‘Grounding’ which is currently entering the festival circuit and I would definitely love to work with Dora CM again- she wrote the screenplay for the project. The cast were also amazing- It’s great to work with actors who are really willing to experiment and do what it takes to get the best performance possible.

3 tips you’d like to share with aspiring artists in your field:

A big one I have learned is that finding the right collaborators for cast and crew is key – You want to work with people who are as passionate about telling the story as you are and who know what they are doing. Apart from that, for me at least, it is just about seeking truth in every story you want to tell and never giving up!

What do you hope to achieve in your career in the next 5 years?

I’m passionate about storytelling for social change, tacking important social issues through film and empowering those most marginalised to have their stories heard. If I can be making content like this for the next 5 years, maybe on a slightly more ambitious level and with some higher budgets, I would be very happy.

Hindsight is nominated for Best Student Film of the Year at the New York Film Awards.