Film produced by Mayo woman gains major success

A film produced by a native of Westport is seeing major success in the film world.

‘That They May Face the Rising Sun', produced by covey Tina O'Reilly of South Wind Blows, had its World Premiere at BFI London Film Festival and won Best Irish Film at the Dublin International Film Festival.

Since its premiere last year, the film has been nominated for eleven awards at the Irish Film and Television Awards 2024 including Best Film, Best Director and Best Script.

Now, ‘That They May Face the Rising Sun’ will be released nationwide on Thursday, April 25, including Mayo Movie World in Castlebar, and W Cinema in Westport 

Filmed across numerous county Galway locations, the movie captures a year in the life of a rural, lakeside community in 1970s Ireland. 

An adaptation of the final novel from John McGahern, one of Ireland’s greatest novelists, the story follows Joe and Kate Ruttledge who have returned from London to live and work among the small, close-knit community near to where Joe grew up. 

Now, deeply embedded in life around the lake, the drama of a year in their lives and those of the memorable characters around them unfolds through the rituals of work, play, and the passing seasons as this enclosed world becomes everywhere.

See the trailer below.