Tagline:

Faoladh is a Gaelic werewolf drama set in Donegal’s Irish-speaking region about a curious kid in the dark about her heritage who comes to reckon with her inner power as she unpacks her family’s myths.

Synopsis:

Nancy (9) lives on a remote sheep farm in the Donegal Gaeltacht with her ailing grandfather Fergus (60s) and frequently-absent mother Bridget (30s) whom she idolises. She resists calls to go school and instead wants to be ‘wild’ like her enigmatic mother. As our story begins, rough February storms are causing worried sheep to lamb early and Nancy suffers restless dreams where she and her mother hunt sheep together. When a pregnant ewe is savaged along with its unborn lamb, Nancy fears its connection to her dream and her grandfather’s tale of The She-Wolves of Cruachán. Disturbed by the thought that she might be killing lambs, she sets out to save a dog being blamed for her ‘badness’. Despite her grandfather’s concern and a neighbour’s violent threats Nancy attempts to overcome feelings of powerlessness to prevent more pain and death. Her quest leads her to reckon with long held family secrets and strange forces within her as she begins to unravel her family’s myths and the truth of violent fairy wolf-women. As the story unfolds we come to suspect that Bridget is dead. We go from seeing her as a woman idealised by her daughter, who may or may not be a werewolf, to viewing her appearances as wishful fantasy and learn the harsh reality Fergus’s folktales hide. The film’s finale forces our belief to return as Nancy gains control of her ‘wolfing’ and we realise Bridget as an otherworldly ‘spirit-guide’ as Nancy integrates the reality of her death with the truth of her powers.

Project representatives:

Maggie Ryan (Producer)