Aisling Walsh | |
---|---|
Born | 1958 (age 65–66) Dublin, Republic of Ireland |
Nationality | Irish |
Alma mater | Dún Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology |
Occupation(s) | director, screenwriter |
Years active | 1985–present |
Spouse | Dermot Ryan 1980-2018 (his death) |
Aisling Walsh (born 1958) is an Irish screenwriter and director. Her work has screened at festivals around the world and she has won several accolades, including a BAFTA TV Award for Room at the Top (2012) as well as an Irish Film and Television Award and a Canadian Screen Award for her direction of Maudie (2016). [1] [2] She is known for her "unflinching honest portrayals of a Catholic Irish society". [3]
She was born in Dublin, Ireland to Raphael Walsh, a furniture designer and manufacturer from Navan, County Meath. In 1975, when Walsh was 16, she began studies at the Dún Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology in Dublin. [4] She then continued her education at The National Film School in Beaconsfield, England, where one of her main influences was Bill Douglas, a Scottish filmmaker who tutored at the school. [5] She later settled in London. [6]
In 1985, Walsh wrote and directed her first short film, Hostage. [7] Her feature film directorial debut was Joyriders (1989). She then transitioned into television work throughout the 1990s, [8] including episodes of The Bill (1991–1994), Doctor Finlay (1993), Roughnecks (1995), and Trial & Retribution (1997–2002). [8] [9]
In 2003, she wrote and directed her second feature film, Song for a Raggy Boy , which won multiple awards at international film festivals, [10] including Best Film at the Copenhagen International Film Festival. [11] Her third feature, The Daisy Chain, a horror-thriller film, was released in 2008. [12]
Throughout the 2000s and early 2010s, Walsh also continued working in television, directing series and television films such as the BAFTA TV Award-nominated Fingersmith (2005); the BBC One film Sinners (2007); [13] The Fifth Woman, a feature-length episode of the BBC series Wallander, starring Kenneth Branagh (2010); and Room at the Top (2012), which earned her a BAFTA TV Award in 2013 for Best Mini-Series. [2]
In 2014, she directed A Poet in New York , exploring how Welsh poet Dylan Thomas died in New York at the age of 39. [14] The film marked the centenary of Thomas' birth on 27 October 1914. [15]
Her fourth feature film, the biographical film Maudie (2016) about Canadian folk artist Maud Lewis, [16] premiered at the Telluride Film Festival. [17] As someone who studied painting herself, [8] Walsh was drawn to the simplicity and beauty in Lewis's work. [18] The film received positive reviews from critics. [19] The Japan Times called it "an unabashedly intimate portrait of a remarkable woman". [20] It was a New York Times Critic's Pick; in her review, Manohla Dargis criticized the film's tone and score, but commended the performances and direction. [21]
For her work on Maudie, Walsh won a Canadian Screen Award for Best Director; the film won a total of seven awards at the 6th annual ceremony in 2018. [22] Walsh also won the award for Best Director at the 15th annual Irish Film and Television Awards in 2018. [23]
Year | Title | Notes |
---|---|---|
1985 | Hostage | Short film |
1988 | Joyriders | Debut feature film |
2003 | Song for a Raggy Boy | Feature film |
2004 | Visions of Europe | Segment "Invisible State" |
2008 | The Daisy Chain | Feature film |
2016 | Maudie | Feature film |
Year | Title | Notes |
---|---|---|
1991–1994 | The Bill | 14 episodes |
1993 | Doctor Finlay | 4 episodes |
1995 | Roughnecks | 7 episodes |
1995–1996 | The Governor | 2 episodes |
1997–2002 | Trial & Retribution | 6 episodes |
2000 | Forgive and Forget | TV film |
2000 | Little Bird | TV film |
2002 | Sinners | TV film |
2005 | Fingersmith | TV mini-series; 3 episodes |
2009 | Eadar-Chluich | 1 episode |
2010 | Wallander | 1 episode |
2012 | Room at the Top | TV mini-series; 2 episodes |
2012 | Loving Miss Hatto | TV film |
2014 | A Poet in New York | TV film |
2015 | An Inspector Calls | TV film |
2019 | Elizabeth is Missing | TV film |
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