Michael McCrea is an impressionable eighteen-year-old who lives with his grandfather Francis in a Dublin housing-estate. Michael’s life is changed dramatically when he is caught holding a bag of drugs for his friend’s older brother, and is sentenced to three months in prison. Inside, Michael is befriended by an older drug dealer, and is exposed to violence and intimidation.

Direction: Frank Berry

Script: Frank Berry

Production: Aoife O'Sullivan

Co-Production: Donna Eperon, Tristan Orpen Lynch

Cinematography: Tom Comerford

Editing: Colin Campbell

Production Design: Emma Lowney

Costume Design: Emma Lowney

Make-Up: Gill Brennan

Original Score: Daragh O'Toole

Visual Effects: Andy Clarke

Cast: Dafhyd Flynn, Lalor Roddy, Moe Dunford

Original Title: MICHAEL INSIDE

Original Language: English

Film Production Country: Ireland

Social Media: https://www.facebook.com/michaelinsidemovie/

Statement of the Director/s
Much of my early work in filmmaking involved community projects, covering themes of social disadvantage and education. Over the years, I have come across many young people already living with feelings of failure and defeat. Those who had left school early would often appear from their beds in the afternoon, and go to bed very late. They didn’t always occupy the same time-zone as their peers who were in school or working, and this further separated them. Many of these teenagers, mostly from disadvantaged communities, couldn’t really identify much meaning in their lives, and they punctuated their boredom with the thrill of mischief. I thought of a film that would highlight the vulnerability of many teenagers in Ireland who don’t necessarily want to be criminals, but who, due to the circumstances of their environment, could easily become part of the prison population. My initial impulse was simply to put that path up on the screen, through a story that would have the potential to reaffirm what many people know to be true, to enlighten others, and to make an impression on many – especially young people who might benefit from seeing lives familiar to their own in a big picture.

Biography of the Director/s
Frank Berry is a Dublin-born director whose career began with ten years of community filmmaking and television. This work led to his critically acclaimed Irish Film and Television Award nominated feature-documentary Ballymun Lullaby (2011), winner of the Directors Guild of America’s Directors Finders Award. His next film I Used to Live Here (2014), a drama that deals with suicide clusters among teenagers, won the Best First Feature Award at the Galway Film Fleadh 2014, and was nominated for three Irish Film and Television Awards including Best Film. Frank’s latest feature film Michael Inside, a drama researched with former prisoners had its world premiere at the Galway Film Fleadh (2017) where it won the Best Irish Film Award. The film went on to win the Audience Award at the Cork Film Festival 2017 and was recently nominated for five Irish Film and Television Awards, winning the top award for Best Film 2018. The film has also picked up awards internationally, including Best Director at both the Newport Beach International Film Festival and the Voices Film Festival, Russia. Michael Inside was also officially selected for the Shanghai International Film Festival. Proving a hit with critics and audiences on its domestic cinema release, Michael Inside will be released in UK cinemas in September 2018.

Filmography of the Director/s
2017, Michael Inside
2014, I Used To Live Here
2011, Ballymun Lullaby (Documentary)

Awards Won
Irish Film and Television Awards: Best Film 2018
Galway Film Fleadh: Best Irish Film, Bingham Ray New Talent, Dafhyd Flynn
Cork Film Festival: Audience Award
Newport Beach Film Festival: Best Director, Best Cinematography
Writers Guild of Ireland Award: Best Feature Film Script
VOICES Film Festival, Russia: Best Director