Award-winning documentary set to open at Mayo Movie World on Friday

A film-maker with strong Ballycroy connections will bring his award-winning documentary to Castlebar this Friday for a short run at Mayo Movie World.

Éamon Little directs Born That Way, a hugely moving and beautifully-made documentary about a gentle Irish hero, Patrick Lydon who established the innovative Camphill Community in Kilkenny, allowing people with special needs notable dignity, and inspiring 16 further such communities across Ireland.

Little spends much of his time in Ballycroy and has strong connections to the area. He's a multi-award winning screen-writer and documentary-maker. His latest creation is a tender, provocative love story celebrating community, disability, inclusion and otherness. Born That Way opens at Mayo Movie World on Friday, and continues daily at 5.30pm until Wednesday, November 19.

The 95-minute movie centres of Lydon, an intriguing individual, from an Irish family in Massachusetts who covered Woodstock for the New York Times, before moving to Ireland for what he expected to be a brief period, but turned out to a life-long stay.

Born That Way charts Lydon's remarkable story and Little tells the tale in stunning manner. The production takes viewers to a small wooden house in Kilkenny, as Patrick Lydon’s life ebbs away. Throughout his final year he reflects on an extraordinary existence that took him from a budding career in rock journalism in America to trailblazing in Ireland with his wife, Gladys, and the development of the radically inclusive Camphill Movement, sharing life in community with people of diverse needs, abilities, and backgrounds.

Lydon’s story calls forth the story of Camphill itself and articulates an approach to life that struggles for survival in today’s consumerist climate. At a time when the world is in need of inspiration, Patrick and Gladys’ story is timely.

Little tells the story with great insight and feeling. He takes viewers to the very core of the tale as only he can. The film-maker discovered Camphill in 1991 when his youngest brother went to live in the newly-established Grangemockler community. He had been orphaned young so his siblings were greatly relieved to see him settle and flourish in what felt like a large, eclectic, organic family farm.

“It was eye-opening to discover such an egalitarian and affirming community in this country, where people with and without disabilities shared life together creatively and productively, all day every day. I can’t explain Camphill here but if you see the film you’ll get a good idea,” Little tells The Mayo News before outlining the friendship he developed with Lydon and his wife Gladys.

“I found a man who instantly bestowed on me, to quote the narrator of Gatsby, 'One of those rare smiles with a quality of reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life. It faced – or seemed to face – the whole eternal world for an instant, and then concentrated on you with an irresistible prejudice in your favour.'

“Patrick and I were soon friends and when, in 2010, I made the documentary Living Colour, set in the KCAT Studio, a product of the Camphill impulse and his vision and energy, I supped regularly at the Lydons’ table upstairs. I soon realised that what I admired about the Lydons was not just their radical commitment to others, but the creativity, intelligence, energy and utter dedication with which they went about their work. I saw Patrick as a sort of social artist - human relations were his material, making surprising connections his modus operandi. Far from po-faced or holier-than-thou, he got his kicks from what he did.”

Life moved on and as the years passed Little tried and failed to convince RTÉ to commission a film about the Camphill way of life in Ireland, not knowing it would soon be history.

“In March 2021 we were discussing a creative collaboration to mark Camphill’s fifty years in the Republic. I suggested finding our way in by recording conversations. Days later Patrick rang to say, 'whatever you want to record, you’d better do it soon. I’ve been diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease.' Instantly I knew it was a film I needed to make, that it should be about Patrick’s life, that the story of Camphill in Ireland I had wanted to make before would surely emerge through that. Rather than 'in praise of' him, this was a last opportunity to view the world through Patrick’s unique lens.

“With the Lydons’ consent, I started immediately on a series of interviews with Patrick, covering many themes. Over the next five months I learned more about him than I had in the previous thirteen years, and our friendship deepened greatly. As his illness progressed and he gave us intimate access to his illness, I was privileged to witness the great grace with which he accepted the care and support of his family and their enormous community of, and to witness his tireless warrior spirit, still planning and scheming for a better future right to the very end. As things transpired, my first and last encounters with Patrick were both recorded. The opening scene of the film was the very first footage I shot with him,” Little states.

Born That Way, winner, of the Dublin Film Critics Circle prize for best Irish documentary at Dublin International Film Festival, is a wonderful, tragic, hopeful creation filled with 'real' people. It runs in Mayo Movie World from Friday, November 14 to Wednesday, November 19 every evening at 5.30pm.