Oscar-Nominated Live Action Shorts ‘Irish Goodbye,’ ‘Ivalu,’ ‘Night Ride’ Tug at Emotions
Julia MacCary editor An Irish Goodbye Inspiration for the black comedy came from co-director Tom Berkeley at soccer match where two brothers were “at each other’s throats,” although where one was caring for the other who had Down syndrome. In “An Irish Goodbye,” estranged brothers Lorcan and Turlough are brought back together following their mother’s death, and Turlough must take care of his younger brother, who has Down syndrome. Lorcan will not leave their farm until they complete all 100 items on their mother’s bucket list. Co-director Ross White tapped into his observations from working in a special education school. “There can be this lack of cynicism with people with Down syndrome, a sort of openness and an honesty and purity about the way they see the world,” he says. The film depicts the brothers’ respective responses to death: “You’ve got this one character who is coping with this in a very emotionally open way, and then you’ve got his brother who is a bit more of a typical masculine response,” says White.