HOMOFÓNIA: A QUEER COMEDY OF ERRORS FILMED IN CORK, CELEBRATING THE POWER OF THE CÚPLA FOCAIL.
Writer-Producer Alana Daly Mulligan discusses their upcoming short film project ‘Homofónia’ which is set to launch in August 2023 during the Cork Pride Festival. On a rather rainy Saturday morning in January 2022, I was set up on a writing blind date with Luke Murphy. A talented writer-director, I would spend nearly every Saturday morning for six months with this very funny, kind Kerryman. He wanted to write a story that was an ode to school life. I wanted to write a very gay love story, not at all imagining it set in an educational environment. Working through a number of themes like young love, miscommunication and heartbreak, we reminisced on our school days and got to know one another. We then, almost by accident, stumbled upon anecdotes of our experiences learning Irish, complete with eccentric-teacher characters, and overall not having a bawdy of what was going on. From here, a project called Teanga was born. Asides being an absolutely miserable read, it became a very strange Frankenstein of a film script (imagine Portrait of a Lady on Fire goes to the Gaeltacht). After taking a moment to sit with the beast we’d created, we decided to scrap the idea. It didn’t feel right. It wasn’t the good energy we wanted to put out into the world, especially with so many horrible endings often fated for LGBTQ+ characters on television and film. That’s when, amongst the weeds of our Saturday morning writing sessions,
we found Homofónia . With a Debs application deadline approaching, a closeted couple must decide if they’re out or in as Gaeilge to prevent their classmates from knowing they’re an item. However, translation issues leave their relationship in jeopardy. For us, Homofónia is a rom-com for a young Irish audience and anyone who’s survived a Leaving Certificate Irish class. This classic comedy of errors story stemming from bilingual miscommunication, is a queer story about the quirks of a qwear language. The short explores the theme of modern love and identity being expressed through our mother tongue. The suspense is then drawn to the couple’s relationship problems and the audience’s desire for them to be together. From a very early stage, we knew we wanted the film to mean more to people than something to watch on YouTube. We saw the project holistic, representing alternative stories fit for a classroom setting. We played with the idea of Irish as a secret language and by proxy, a queer language which ultimately allows our two protagonists to connect with each other. It should at this point be mentioned that neither Luke nor I are Irish speakers. Yes, I can see the Gaelgeoirs trepidatiously reading through their fingers as I write this. While we did aspire towards the genius of people like Colm Bairéad ( An Cailín Ciúin ) and Brian Lynch of Cáca Milis fame, we knew that a fully Irish language
script wouldn’t be possible for us to write alone. We also knew that the politics of the language are strong: between getting the right dialect to translating the work for subtitling, the thought of upsetting the Irish-speaking community has at various points induced fright into our bodies. For me in many ways, writing a story in Irish that’s set in a secondary school environment has felt akin to coming out all over again: not being quite sure of the scene, the lingo, being afraid of rejection and frankly having no clue what you’re doing. But in true Seachtain na Gaeilge spirit, we leaned into the experience, mumbling “is fearr Gaeilge briste ná Bearla cliste’’ as if our little lives depended on it. We reminded ourselves that Irish was our language too and we could only do our best, níl bhíonn saoi gan locht . When we went to our Gaelgeoir friends with the script, we were fortunate to be met with patience and support as they explained our mistakes and helped us bring the script to where it is today. Without the time and care given by these people – special mention to Katie Halpin-Hill who initially looked at the script and the fabulous Grett O’Connor who got us into ship-shape for filming – we would not be showing a film we are very proud of this Pride month. There’s a little hot pink documents folder in my Google Drive that has the last eighteen months of
Luke and my Saturday mornings in there. It contains the original concept notes, scripts, rewrites, the most squeezed budgets you’ve ever seen, pitch decks, casting notices, rejection letters and the delightful acceptance letter from Bank of Ireland’s Begin Together Arts Fund in partnership with Business to Arts who believed in our project as a tool for change. This film is the summit of our year-and-a-half as creative collaborators trekking up a mountain with many professional and personal challenges. It has been and for a few more months will continue to be an exciting journey as we develop educational resources for students and teachers in secondary schools to use. We are beyond proud of our little gearrscannán that could, and we’re excited for you to see it. Homofónia will premiere at Cork Pride 2023 with a screening and panel discussion with the creators on the 3rd of August. Check out the Cork Pride Event Listings for more details. Homofónia is proudly supported by the Bank of Ireland Begin Together Arts Fund in partnership with Business to Arts, Cork City Libraries and Munster Technological University. Sincerest thanks to the staff and students at Terence McSwiney Community College, in particular Yvonne Calnan who advocated for our production to grace the halls of their beautiful school.
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