Donegal director set for short film premiere at Dublin International Film Festival

A Donegal director has said she’s “really excited” to see her new short film premiere at the Dublin International Film Festival.

Kate Haley from Milford is the director behind a new short film called Emergency Accommodation. Funded by Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland and Virgin Media Ireland as part of the Virgin Media Discovers scheme, the 13-minute comedy-drama delivers a sharp and distinctly Irish portrait of a public system under strain.

It will premiere at the Dublin International Film Festival on Friday, ahead of its national broadcast on Virgin Media One on Thursday, February 26 at 11pm and streaming release on Virgin Media Play on Friday at 9pm. 

In Emergency Accommodation, “Joe, a homeless man under Garda custody, finds himself trapped inside a miserably congested emergency department. After a series of lucky breaks, he escapes into the hospital itself, using the chaos of the Irish healthcare system as the perfect cover.” 

Written by Seán Connolly and produced by Eamonn Keane for Red Hopper Films, Emergency Accommodation is grounded in the authenticity of Connolly’s medical background as a doctor. The film explores urgent national issues - homelessness, hospital overcrowding, and institutional failure. The story follows Joe as he navigates the labyrinth of an emergency department, hiding in plain sight while slowly beginning to understand the human effort holding the fractured system together.

When Kate first read the script, the setting struck a chord with her, seeing as her father worked for many years as a doctor in Letterkenny University Hospital.

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“I felt like it was coming from a real place of authenticity,” she says. “It just connected to me as a story, especially in terms of how it shows a system that’s very much stressed and overworked and underfunded.”

Kate appreciated the comedic approach to the story, showing the human side to the characters while tackling serious themes.

“It's a comedy, and it was written like a comedy, but you don't want to kind of overshadow the more serious issues,” says Kate. “For me, that came into how we crafted it. So having moments in the short where distress is shown, and I think where those darker moments come through in Joe's character journey.

“By taking in those themes of homelessness through Joe, who's our main character, and played by Joseph McGucken. He really brings this heart and warmth to it, but then of course brings a whole other kind of issue to the forefront, which I really feel like the emergency department is - a kind of a melting pot of issues and crises.”

Kate Haley and the film crew of Emergency Accommodation

Emergency Accommodation was filmed over three days at St Mary’s Hospital in Phoenix Park, Dublin. It was Kate’s first project on returning to Ireland after two years in the USA.

Having studied English Literature at Trinity College Dublin, Kate was awarded a Fulbright scholarship to study a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Film & Television at Savannah College of Art and Design in Savannah, Georgia. Kate looks back on her time there as an “amazing experience” that helped her adjust to the demanding environment of a film set.

“It really was a great place to expand your craft and really cut your teeth, making a lot of content in a more pressured environment,” says Kate. “The school itself was very tight in terms of timescales and deadlines. It really puts you into the pressure in those terms, which I think has helped a lot. Especially with Emergency Accommodation, it was quite a tough shoot in terms of it being three days, loads of extras and a big crew.”

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Despite the challenge, Kate says she “loved” working with the crew for Emergency Accommodation and they became a “wee family”.

“Having really talented collaborators made the process so enjoyable,” she says. “Niall O'Connor, the Director of Photography as well, worked really closely with me to establish a really specific visual language for the film. Having collaborators and Heads of Department that really brought the best to that shoot made it really seamless. We had a really fantastic first Assistant Director, Megan O'Shaughnessy, as well, who really kept us all kind of ticking along and on time.”

Kate is looking forward to seeing Emergency Accommodation on the big screen at the premiere and for audiences at home to watch on Virgin Media.

“I'm always terrified going into the screening - that big black screen before you see it up in front of you,” she says. “But I'm really excited. A lot of our cast and crew are coming, and it's going to be the first time that they're going to see it.

“It's a nice chance to really honour everything that people have given the film, and to give back to them.”

Emergency Accommodation stars Joseph McGucken as Joe, supported by Ebimie Anthony, Paul Tylak, Anne Cruzado, Jed Murray, Rory Mullen, and Natalie Britton. Executive Producers include Sinéad Stimpfig and Gareth McGreevy for Virgin Media Ireland, Kate McColgan for Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland, and Associate Producer Daniel Lloyd for VMTV. The short forms part of Virgin Media Discovers, a talent initiative supporting emerging Irish filmmaking voices.